Girls Tennis Confronts Division 1 Schools, Buchanan and Clovis North

By: Sydney Brammer

Redwood’s girls’ tennis team faced Division 1 high school, Buchanan on March 16, 2021 at 3:30 PM on Buchanan’s courts. The team lost with an overall score of 3-6, but with this loss, some of the players have begun a winning streak.

Elizabeth Gormley, ’21, ranked number one for Varsity, won her second singles match of the season with a score of 6-3, 6-0. Going into the match, Gormley knew her opponent was going to be strong so she mentally prepared before the match and then aimed to “keep the ball deep and run after her attack shots.”

According to Gormley, the beginning of the match was close with a score of 4-3 at one point, so Gormley began to “hit [her] shots with a little bit more power and to keep them deep,” allowing her to win the first set 6-3.

During the second set, Gormley says her opponent’s ankles began to hurt to the point where their trainer had to come help. Gormley won the set 6-0 after her opponent continued to play.

After her win against Division 1 high school, Bakersfield Christian and now Buchanan, Gormley is on a winning streak. She says, “I’m happy and proud of my performance so far.” She hopes to continue her streak when faced against another Division 1 high school, Clovis North’s number one as she knows she’s a strong player.

To prepare for this match, Gormley is going to drink a lot of water throughout the week so that she is hydrated. She will also “work hard” during her practices so that during the match she will “attack when [she] can and keep [her] rally shots deep.”

However Gormley and her doubles partner, Madelyn Adams’, ’21 (ranked number two for Varsity) match didn’t go as well. Gormley says, “we focused on being aggressive at the net and hitting good rally shots.” She continues by saying their opponents were strong both at the baseline and the net causing them to lose the match 5-8.

However with this doubles match loss, came another win. Sophia Degn, ’21 (ranked number three for Varsity) and her doubles partner, Joselyn Arellano, ’23 (ranked number four for Varsity) won their match with an overall score of 8-5 making this the beginning of a winning streak after their first win against Bakersfield Christian.

Degn says, “We were ahead the whole time which helped us stay very motivated.” She continues saying there were some occasions throughout the match where they weren’t doing well, but that they “always try to encourage each other and stay positive… Our mental game is just as important as how well we can play.”

Ally Terrible, ’22 (ranked number six for Varsity) and her doubles partner, McKenzie Branch, ’22 (ranked number seven for Varsity) also won their doubles match with an overall score of 8-6. Before the match, Terrible says her and Branch were nervous from watching previous matches as Buchanan was doing well, but “after we won a few games, we felt more comfortable,” says Terrible.

According to Terrible, they figured out “the weak points of [their] opponents and hit directly at that spot,” which turned out to work in their favor.

To prepare for their next opponent, Division 1 high school, Clovis North, the girls are going to “work on [their] mistakes” and “perfect [their] imperfections,” says Terrible.

March 22, 2021 at 3:30 PM Redwood Faced Division 1, Clovis North

At 3:30 PM, Redwood’s Varsity girls’ tennis team traveled to Clovis North’s courts, while the JV team stayed on their home courts to confront Division 1 high school, Clovis North. Many of the players knew this team was going to be full of tough opponents so they prepared mentally and physically before their matches.

Redwood unfortunately lost again with an overall score of 3-6, however, a few of the players walked away with a win.

Gormley, continuing her winning streak, won her singles match 7-5, 6-4. Preparing for her match beforehand helped her to be physically ready to do her best. She says, “I was able to adapt to what she [her opponent] was doing and utilize the deep rally shot and consistency.”

Instead of Gormley’s usual doubles partner, Adams, she paired with Arellano. Gormley says, “their game styles are a little different so I needed to alter the way I played a little to better fit the match and highlight both of our strengths.” Unfortunately, Gormely and Arellano lost their match 4-8.

Arellano came out with her first singles match win against a Division 1 school! She won in a tie breaker with the overall scores of 6-4, 4-6, 10-6. Arellano says it was a long match, and that she was able to “strategize around [her] opponents and predict whether or not she was going to hit a slice.”

Degn also won her singles match 6-3, 7-5. According to her, she says it was a very long match. She was nervous going into the match, but after she won her first game, she calmed down and grew more confidence in her skill.

Instead of Degn’s usual doubles partner, Arellano, she paired with Adams and ended her winning streak, losing their match 8-1. Because Degn is used to playing with Arellano, she feels that she plays better with her, but Degn likes “mixing it up.” She says, “It was fun playing with Maddie and I’m excited to see if I’ll play with her again.”

Terrible and her doubles partner, Branch unfortunately lost their match 4-8. Terrible says they did better than their match against Buchanan as they “kept a lot more balls in and definitely had better teamwork.” To improve, Terrible wants to focus on watching the ball more precisely and that her and Branch work more on their consistency.

Ranked number three for JV and 11 overall, Cailyn Jensen lost her singles match against Clovis North’s number three with a score of 4-8. JV plays a 8-game pro-set, whereas Varsity plays two sets. Even though Jensen lost, she is proud of the way she played, “I feel I played much better than I did at the beginning of the tennis season. My ground strokes were much stronger and I only double faulted twice,” she says.

Going into her singles match, Jensen knew it was going to be tough. According to her, they had long rallies where they were tied at 40-40 multiple times. Jensen says her and her opponent were at a similar skill level making it a close and competitive match. She says, “what ultimately cost me the game was my struggle to return some of my opponent’s serves.”

For future matches, Jensen plans on “improving the strength of [her] serves, [her] ability to return serves, and increase [her] endurance.”

Jensen and her doubles match partner, Anastasia Cardona, ’22 (ranked number four for JV, and 12 overall) also lost their match 4-8. However, Jensen says it was the best they’ve played so far so they felt good about it.

Katherine Hornburg, ’22 (ranked number five for JV, and 13 overall) lost her singles match 1-8. According to her, her opponent was really tough and had “fast serves” which made it “really hard to hit the ball back.” Going into the match, she was confident and doubted her opponent was going to be very good, so it came a surprise to Hornburg finding out it was going to be a difficult match.

Unfortunately, Hornburg’s doubles match didn’t go much better. Hornburg and her doubles partner, Ashlyn Guenter, ’24 (ranked number six for JV, and 14 overall) lost their match 2-8. Hornburg hopes to improve on their tactics and “playing smart.”

Redwood girls Varsity and JV play Clovis West today at the opponent’s courts at 3:00 PM. Varsity also has a match Thursday, March 25th versus Garces Bakersfield at 3:30 PM at Redwood.

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