Leah Collins / M-A Chronicle
Abuelsorour hitting a serve.

Girls Tennis Claims Strong Victory Against San Mateo

The girls tennis team strolled off the courts with a decisive 6-1 victory against the San Mateo Bearcats on Thursday afternoon. This was the Bears’ last match of league play. 

Senior singles one player Tessa Ellingson* was the first off the court. Ellingson dominated her match with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win.

Hoghooghi and Abuelsorour shake hands before their match.

Next off the court was junior singles four Hailey Hintze, who prevailed with another 6-0, 6-0 sweep. “I started the season with an injury, and after recovering, I feel like I’ve played a lot better,” Hintze said. “I was really able to be focused and give my all today.”

Freshman singles three player Adeline Soltys brought the Bears up another point, defeating her opponent 6-0, 6-4. “I kind of lost focus in the second set, but I was able to come back,” Soltys said. “I didn’t play my best, but I’m glad the team won and I know everyone tried really hard.”

The last singles player off the court was sophomore Marissa Hou playing number two with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. “We had good rallies today,” Hou said. “I’m just really happy we ended with a win.”

Following the singles matches came doubles two sophomores Aarushi Srivastava and Julia Maggio with a 6-1, 6-4 win. “We’ve been playing together for a year,” Srivastava said. “I think it went really well. We were definitely feeling it.”

Hou lunges for a forehand.

Doubles one juniors Parmis Hoghooghi* and Yara Abuelsorour followed with a tough match and a hard-fought loss. The pair lost the first set 7-6 in a 7-2 tiebreak but came back to dominate the second set 6-0. In a tight third set tiebreak, they ultimately lost 10-7. 

In a nail-biting finale, doubles three partners senior Sofia Basso and freshman Julianne Hanson stayed on the court for over two hours, fighting to close out their match. After winning the first set 6-4, the pair lost the second set 7-6 in a 7-5 tiebreak. However, they eventually pulled out a 10-8 victory in the third set tiebreak.

“I think this was a good match for the team. We really put our all into this one and it was good to see us play a match with a lot more ease than we did at the start of the season,” Hintze said.

The Bears will return to the court on Tuesday for the PAL team tournament.

*Tessa Ellingson and Parmis Hoghooghi are journalists for the M-A Chronicle.