The girls tennis team dominated the Mills Vikings, with a team final score of 6-1 on Thursday afternoon.
First off the court was singles four senior Queenie Hsieh, who cruised through her opponent with a 6-2, 6-0 win. “In the beginning, I wasn’t playing very patiently, and I was making a bunch of mistakes at the back,” Hsieh said. “Luckily, I got it together near the end.”
Subsequently, doubles three senior Yara Abuelsorour and sophomore Anna Brown finished their match, with a dominant 6-2 first set. Their second set brought more intensity, but despite their opponents initial lead, they were able to narrowly win 6-4. “We just focused on getting balls over. Not trying to hit winners or anything, but just keeping it steady,” Brown said.
Doubles two continued this streak of victory, with junior Julia Maggio and junior Aarushi Srivastava having a solid 6-3, 6-4 win, tactfully utilizing aggressive plays, which further extended M-A’s momentum.
Following this match was singles three Hailey Hintze*. Hintze claimed the first set 6-3, but her opponent’s relentless consistency helped them even the match, winning the second set 6-2. Unfortunately, M-A’s run was cut short as Hintze suffered a narrow loss after a crushingly close 9-11 tiebreaker.
Despite this setback, the Bears persisted as singles one-player junior Marissa Hou finished with a score of 6-3, 6-4, confirming M-A’s victory. Despite being at the forefront, she didn’t let the pressure get to her. “I just tried not to think too much, because you miss a lot when you overthink things,” Hou said. “I tried to stay in the moment.”
In an extremely close matchup, sophomore Adeleine Soltys, singles two, lost her first set 6-3. During the second set, she narrowly overpowered her opponent 7-6, not letting the initial score demotivate her. Finally, using a conservative playstyle paired with strong drive, she won in an assertive 10-3 tiebreaker.
Last off the court was doubles one, consisting of seniors Acacia Yoon and Parmis Hoghooghi. Strong cooperation helped them achieve a 5-2 lead in the beginning of their first set, but their momentum was short-lived, ultimately losing 7-5. Despite this devastating comeback, the duo persisted, winning their second set with an impressive 6-0 score. In a tiebreaker finale, Yoon and Hoghooghi won 10-6, ending the game with an impressive volley. ”It’s not about how hard you hit or where you hit it. They can always get the ball back. It’s a matter of who can just keep hitting the ball in the court over and over again,” Hoghooghi said.
Overall, M-A won against Mills with a concluding score of 6-1.
“Coming into the match, I felt really confident in our doubles pairs and their abilities and that really translated on court today. I had a lot of confidence in our singles too, and I think they pulled out some really important wins and stayed composed under pressure,” coach Shani Podell said.
The Bears will return to the court against Burlingame on Tuesday in an away game.
*Hailey Hintze is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle
