Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 4:00 PM, the girls’ Varsity tennis team competed against Hanford High School and took an impressive win of 9-0.
Everyone on the team won their matches including (in order of rank): Elizabeth Gormley, ’21, Madelyn Adams, ’21, Sophia Degn, ’21, Joselyn Arellano, ’23, Alisha Shahroz, ’21, and ranked #2 on JV, Trinity Garcia, ’22. Along with McKenzie Branch, ’22 and Brooke O’Leary, ’22 winning their doubles match.
Gormley won her singles 6-0, 6-0, and her doubles with her partner, Adams 8-1. Adams also won her singles 6-0, 6-1.
Like Gormley, Degn won her singles in a shut-out 6-0, 6-0, and her doubles with her partner, Arellano 8-0. Arellano also won her singles in a shut-out 6-0, 6-0.
Shahroz won her singles 6-1, 6-0. Along with guest JV player, Garcia 6-2, 6-3. Neither of these girls had doubles matches.
And Branch and O’Leary finishing it off winning their match 8-1. Neither had a singles match.
Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 at 4:00 PM, the Varsity girls took on El Diamante High School and came out with yet, another win 8-1 continuing their streak.
Wins came from (in order of rank): Elizabeth Gormley, ’21, Madelyn Adams, ’21, Sophia Degn, ’21, Joselyn Arellano, ’23, Reese Ainley, ’22, and Alisha Shahroz, ’21.
Winning her singles match 6-0, 6-1 with an overall match time of about an hour, Gormley went into her match expecting a tough competition given last year, El Diamante was one of the best in the league.
To get this win, Gormley continued to play aggressive and hit winners. According to her, her opponent was “very consistent and hit the ball deep, so [she] had to focus on setting [herself] up during the rally to hit good shots,” she says.
Going into her doubles, Gormley and her partner, Adams had the goal of finishing their points at the net and hitting good serves. To prepare for their match, they hydrated because they had just finished both of their singles matches. They also stayed in the right head space as they needed to stay focused for their next opponents. This payed off as the girls won their match 8-1.
Photo Courtesy of Degn
Winning her singles 6-2, 6-4, Arellano prepared by getting in the right mental state before her match and envisioned the way she was going to play. Her strategies throughout the match was to move her opponent around the court. To do this, she hit balls to both sides of the court.
Some strengths Arellano states she had were, “hitting the ball to the corner and finishing the point by hitting the ball harder.”
Arellano and her doubles partner, Degn won their match 8-4. According to Arellano, it was a close match near the beginning, but they started to play more aggressively which helped them earn their win.
Although Ainley won her singles 6-2, 6-1, she started the match inconsistent as she lost two games before getting her head in the game. Once she stepped into “a more aggressive role,” the match instantly became easier and she was able to win with a breeze, according to Ainley.
Some of her strategies during her match was to “keep the ball deep, then hit short, or a tough angle..” to keep her opponent on her toes.
Shahroz won her singles 6-1, 7-5 in about a two hour long match. She didn’t expect her match to be this long, but she tried to keep the right mindset to stay focused to get the win. According to her, she stayed consistent and did her best to hit every ball back.
The girls’ Varsity coach, Matt Gong is very satisfied with the so-far winning streak the team has. According to Gong, he and the team expected El Diamante to be tougher than all of their previous matches, so he prepared his players for longer matches and held consistency and placement drills.
Gong is very proud of his players for doing so well this far in the season, “I’m happy that the team is not taking anyone lightly and are continuing to work hard at each practice and match,” he says.
The team’s next match is against the school down the street, Mt. Whitney High School. Varsity will be challenging them on the comfort of their own courts at 4:00 PM on Tuesday, the 27th.
Coach Gong is expecting Mt. Whitney to be a tougher opponent than El Diamante given they had beaten them, as did Redwood. Gong expects the team to do well, however isn’t expecting it to be easy. He plans on preparing the team for long rallies and matches.
Sydney Brammer
Sydney Brammer, '22 is currently in her fourth year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. She has a strong passion for featuring the humans of Redwood, and enjoys putting the spotlight on the underdog. She has written for the Visalia Times Delta and Sungazette Sports. You can reach her by email at sydneybr17@gmail.com.
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