In their fourth league match of the season, the girls tennis team lost 4-14 to Crean Lutheran High School (6-0) in a home game at the tennis courts after school on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
The Lady Lancers (1-5) put their best effort forward on the courts, head coach Christopher Ghareebo said.
“I am proud that our confidence has not wavered even though we lost,” Ghareebo said. “We understood the competition we were going to have today, and we’re gonna work on things we can control and things we can get better at.”
Ghareebo highlighted top returners singles No. 1 junior Maya Orton along with doubles No. 2 partners junior Julianne Brie Tuberia and sophomore Ella Ward, who all contributed to the team’s points.
Orton, who scored one point, said she had mixed feelings going into the match.
“I am actually very excited and also nervous because I am playing people that are better than me, so it will be a good match and I’m just going to do my best,” Orton said.
The junior won her second match but lost her first and third — the third being a close match.
“For my first one, I was very nervous to play, but then after playing, I felt okay,” she said. “Going into the second and third ones, I wasn’t as nervous, so I was able to play more freely.”
As for doubles competition, Ward and Tuberia both said they were optimistic heading into the match; they had prepared by practicing and giving themselves positive affirmations.
“My partner and I won two out of the three matches,” Ward said after the match. “I felt good about how we played, but there is always room for improvement.”
Tubiera said because Crean Lutheran is an open division team, Ghareebo told the Lady Lancers what to expect and gave them doubles play strategies they could use, which they applied throughout the matches by taking note of their opponents weaknesses and using it to their advantage.
“Some low points of the games were mostly when we just started playing since we weren’t aware of the other team’s gameplay yet, but the higher points of the games were when we realized what their weaknesses were and used it to our advantage,” the junior said.
To prepare for the next match, Tubiera said she plans to improve her consistency.
“I’m going to try limiting my errors and practicing serves beforehand by myself so I can do better and make better progress,” she said.
Ghareebo shares a similar mindset, emphasizing the importance of preparation leading up to playoffs.
“My mentality is that we have two weeks to prepare for playoffs, so I’m being nitpicky,” the coach said. “I want us to be as perfect and as ready as we can be for a hopeful CIF.”
The Lady Lancers prepare for their upcoming home match against Troy High School (2-4) on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at the tennis courts.
