The girls tennis team defeated the Burlingame Panthers 4-3 in a hard-fought battle on Thursday afternoon. With this victory, the Bears broke their three-year losing streak to the Panthers.
First off the court was doubles two, with sophomore Alexandra Tong and freshman Milan Tian claiming a dominant win, 6-3, 6-1. The Bears were able to counter the Panthers’ pressure through consistency and coordination. “We did a lot of communication, like switching and then serving positions, and we analyzed how they hit and did stuff to counteract,” A. Tong said.
Next off the court was the singles one matchup with senior Marissa Hou*. Despite her competitor’s stable shots and long rallies, Hou’s powerful overhead serves, agility, and consistency overwhelmed her opponent for a commanding victory, 6-2, 6-1.
Following Hou was the doubles one team of senior Julia Maggio and freshman Harriet Gillis. They lost in a tough match, 6-0, 6-2, earning Burlingame its first win of the match.
Singles three freshman Emma Snyder fell to the Panthers, 6-2, 6-2. Despite fighting hard through long rallies, she struggled to find her rhythm early against her opponent’s relentless hits. “I kind of lost my forehand during the match, which sucked. I got it back towards the end, but I couldn’t really get it back fast enough for the game,” Snyder said.
Doubles three, consisting of junior Elena Tong and senior Aarushi Srivastava*, picked up the momentum for M-A. “I think we started off pretty strong, and we let it slip a little in the second set. But I’m really proud that we got it back in the tiebreak, even though it was pretty close at first,” E. Tong said. They secured a three-set victory with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 10-4, putting the Bears one game ahead.
Singles two junior Adeleine Soltys faced a heartbreaking, three-set defeat after a grueling match tiebreak. Even with some impressive saves, her opponent’s steadiness and consistency quickly answered every hard-won point. Her score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-10 once again brought the score to a tie, 3-3.
Last on the court was singles four sophomore Lucia Rose*. Rose’s endurance and tenacity allowed her to bounce back from a narrow loss in the first set and dominate in the final tiebreak. Her win of 6-7, 6-3, 10-2 secured the one-point victory for M-A, with a final score of 4-3.
The Bears will travel to face off against the Aragon Dons on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
*Lucia Rose, Marissa Hou, and Aarushi Srivastava are journalists for the M-A Chronicle.
