The underclassmen of the MHS girls Varsity tennis team didn’t let the rain stop them from placing sixth at the state tournament. Sophomores Kira Schartz and Joanna Park placed 8th in doubles and freshman Kayla Lei placed 10th in singles.

“I was very happy with 8th place this year,” Park said. “Last year we didn’t even make it to the second day and this year my goal was to make it to the second day. Coach [Tony Ingram] was saying he wanted a single digit placement this year and Kira and I were able to do that this year and I’m really satisfied with it.”

The team as a whole placed sixth. Although not every team member was able to compete in the tournament, the entire team still showed up to support the team members that did get to compete in the tournament. Playing in a state competition could be nerve racking for even the steadiest of players.  

“I was really nervous going into,” Park said. “We weren’t playing the first round so we did get to play the team that we were going to play next and that took some nerves off, but I was still a little nervous because I had the pressure of us having to win that match in order to make it to the second day. After the first match that pressure was relieved and I was a little less nervous after that. Kira and I communicated really well during our matches, we were also pretty aggressive at the net and had consistency which was a big portion of our points.”

The physical aspect of tennis, such as being aggressive at the net, consistency and communication makes up a decent size portion of what is involved in the game of tennis. But attitude and mindset also play an important role in any competition.

“My attitude changed between matches,” Lei said. “At first I had the mindset of I’m going to lose everything so my first match was awful but then my coach talked to me and my teammates tried to lift my spirit. Then I managed to pull out another win and the third person I placed wasn’t that good so I won that one. The next day I was on a winning streak so I was pretty relaxed, I had already achieved what I had planned to do. The last one I think I got a little nervous again because I actually really wanted to win that, I was really tight and I didnt loosen up until the last game of that match.”