Last week on Friday, Oct. 4, the Truckee High School tennis teams won their spot to compete in the regional championships for doubles and singles. They will be held on October 18th and 19th at the Tahoe Donner Tennis Center.
The girls team defeated North Valleys 12 to 6. The team captain, Naomi Park, helped lead the girls winning teams to their spot in the championships. The girls varsity team is 8th in the league.
The state championship is also taking place at the Tahoe Donner Tennis Center from October 24th to 26th.
Three-year player senior Callie Schatz discusses playing in the wind at regionals this year, “Because tennis in the wind is not awesome, we had to learn how to slice in the wind as we were warming up.”
She goes on to describe that the match was “really neck and neck and all of the matches were,” but each team won in the first round.
“By the end of the second round we already had won so some of the alternates got to play.
It was super even,” Schatz says. “We lost to this team [North Valleys], they were the first team we played and we were not ready. So I think we surprised them.”
While describing the season, Schatz notes that it was very successful. “We won all of our other matches overall, including South Tahoe which was a grind, not once but twice!”
Junior Ciaran Phillips has played all three years. He says, “It’s a little confusing because we have lost a lot of key players from graduation. Gavin Spear was a really good singles player and Kiefer Wilcox was number one but he is more dedicated to Cross Country running so he doesn’t play [on the team] anymore.”
Phillips says, “It’s daunting that our coach really thinks we can beat South Lake, the dominating team. If we really pull through, there is a good chance we could win. It’s a lot of work when there’s two teams who are evenly matched.”
In regards to the future of the team with more key players graduating this year, Phillips who has another year at THS says, “We’re in good hands with lots of freshmen and sophomores who are super close. Promising players like Andrew Buchanan, who is a freshman. You can tell he is going to be such a good player down the line.”
Other promising players make upperclassmen hopeful for the team. “Dominic Bourdeau is super dedicated to the team. He’s coached kids with me and he’s great. He has a lot of spirit!” Phillips says.
Coaches Hannah and Trevor Ford, Henry Ryerson, Megan Marsot and Jules Phillips all have worked hard to bring both teams this far. Remember to go out to support both teams at the championships in mid October!
