The girl’s varsity tennis team played their first tournament in Columbia on Friday August 27th. Aishi Sethi (‘23), Mary Colombo (‘23), Lia Adams (‘24), Zoey Hrabe (‘24), and Phoebe Martin (‘24) all travelled five hours round trip to attend the highly anticipated tournament, The Big Eight. This tournament included seven schools from Missouri and one from Illinois.
“We’ve only had a few practices and we played really great,” said Adams (‘24). “I’ve never seen a lot of our girls play that well before.”
The team scored 5th place overall, winning two of three rounds, and improved as the tournament progressed. One of the most satisfying wins for the players was against Pembroke Hill. The Knights beat them in all six of the official matches played, even after being required to forfeit some matches due to a lack of players.
“We have not beat Pembroke in years, so that was definitely a thrill,” said Sethi (‘23).
Six players are required for the team to be able to compete in singles matches, but the Varsity team only had five. Louisa Wiesemamn from Rockbridge High School in Columbia, MO, was adopted by the team as their sixth player, and she supported the team, enabling them to compete in their matches.
“She had a really great time playing with us, otherwise she wouldn’t have played,” said Tom O’Brien, head coach of the varsity team. “Rockbridge is a really huge school, over 2,500 kids and they had plenty of extra girls.”
The team faced other obstacles, including the heat. The day of the tournament, the high temperature was 95. With the heat radiating off the courts, it can feel boiling while playing. Some of the top players from other schools like Pembroke had to stop playing after doubles due to the extreme conditions, but the Knights persevered, playing all of their matches.
“We had to get up really early, and didn’t have much time between matches, but it was mainly the heat that was really rough,” said Adams (‘24).
In 2020, there was no girls’ tennis season due to COVID, so this was the first season that the juniors and sophomores on the team had played together. According to coach O’Brien, the lack of a season restricted the team, making it harder for everyone to get to know each other and limiting their experience playing.
“We didn’t really get as much experience working together as we should’ve,” said Sethi (‘23). “It didn’t stunt our tennis playing, but more our teamwork.”
Fortunately, the trip to Columbia was a good opportunity to develop friendships and the team’s dynamic. According to all the players there, they had a lot of fun on the bus, playing games and getting to know each other. After arriving in Columbia, they checked into their hotel and spent more time together while eating and hanging out in the lobby.
“The ride was so much fun, we did a lot of team bonding,” said Adams (‘23). “None of us were on our phones, we played games and really got to know each other.”
Coming together and playing as a team benefitted varsity tennis. The players and Coach O’brien agree that this tournament could be a good preview of how the season will go, and that things will only get better from here.
“I think it was a great preview [to the rest of the season] because we got to play some really great schools, and some schools that were probably about the same level as us,” said sophomore Hrabe (‘24).
After a long voyage to Columbia and hard work from varsity tennis, they are excited to carry on the rest of the season and win more matches.
