The girls tennis team demolished the Half Moon Bay Cougars, with a team final score of 6-1 on Thursday afternoon.
Before the matches began, seniors Queenie Hsieh, Parmis Hoghooghi, Acacia Yoon, Hailey Hintze*, Mia Nagy, Nadia Sharif, Josie Weiss, and Aarii Keswani were honored by their parents with speeches as well as posters and flowers.
“It was really fun. The speeches were pretty cool, and there was a lot of food,” Hsieh said.
The first match off the court was singles four Hsieh, who forced her opponent to run with diverse shot placement, winning the first set 6-1. She continued to dominate the second set, steamrolling her opponent 6-0.
Doubles two, consisting of seniors Parmis Hoghooghi and Acacia Yoon, dictated the first set with exquisite teamwork and tactical spin shots to win 6-0. They continued to put on a show by maintaining consistent communication to take the second set just as easily and win the match, 6-1.
Singles three Hintze was the next to overpower her opponent with clean ground strokes, allowing her to take the first set 6-0. She eventually ran away with the match thanks to her stellar offense, winning again with a score of 6-0.
Singles two sophomore Adeline Soltys was no different. A combination of excellent serves and strong defense handed her the first set 6-1. She continued to display authority and cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Singles one junior Marissa Hou had a tougher match than the score let on. Every point had an intense back-and-forth battle, but Hou got the best of her opponent, winning the first set 6-1. Hou didn’t let up in the second set, overthrowing her opponent 6-0 with flawless hits to reach a victory.
“Our opponents really kept the pace, and kept the balls coming back even if you hit it hard or in an awkward position for them. That made it a really good win,” Hoghooghi said.
Doubles three, composed of Nagy and Sharif, had their work cut out for them. Powerful shots from their opponents lost them the first set 6-4. However, the Bears managed to come back with strong defense and good teamwork, making a statement by winning 6-1. A suspenseful third set eventually ended up going to the Cougars after they came out on top of multiple back-and-forth battles, 10-7.
“I’m still going to be playing here, but being the last game to represent our school, it’s a little bit sad,” Hsieh said.
Last off the court was doubles one, consisting of juniors Julia Maggio and Aarushi Srivastava, who had a neck-and-neck match. Despite going down 2-1 due to good cooperation by their opponents, they managed to come back 4-3, and won the first set 7-5. Their opponents continued to fight in the second set, and scrappy points eventually allowed the Cougars to prevail 7-5. Entering the third set, their opponents put up a tough battle and ended up winning 10-8.
Next up, the Bears will play Burlingame on Tuesday away at 4 p.m.
*Hailey Hintze is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
