Girls Varsity Tennis Loss to Newman
The Girls Varsity Tennis Team suffered a humbling loss to Newman (0-5) in their second Independent Girl Conference (IGC) matchup. The matches were played indoors in Winchester keeping environment challenges to a minimum. The team was outplayed by a more experienced team. The format was 8 Game Pro Set, win by 2 with a 7 point tiebreaker at 7-7. CSW Lineup:
1st Singles – McKenna Zhang
2nd Singles – Emily Tran
3rd Singles – Hayley Roberts
1st Doubles – Crystal Liu & Coco Chen
2nd Doubles – Joyce Zhang & Gemma Wang
1st Singles (Loss 1-8): Freshman McKenna played in the 1st singles position against a nationally ranked tennis player with tournament experience. Although McKenna was outmatched by her opponent, she fought valiantly. McKenna kept up when exchanging hard long forehand rallies and serves. However, her opponent had a more complete game and in the end she could not defend against such a formidable player.
2nd Singles (Loss 3-8): Captain Emily Tran had a tough match against a smart opponent. While technically the two player levels were similar, her Newman opponent was able to control the style of play and defeat her. Emily started out strong (3-3) but her Newman opponent found one of Emily's weakness and exploited it. This caused Emily to play timidly, allowing her opponent to take control of the set.
3rd Singles (Loss 1-8): Junior Hayley Roberts returns to competition after nursing a shin injury back to health. Watching the rallies, Hayley looked like she might have the advantage with more solid ground strokes and more velocity. However her opponent was steadfast and returned everything Hayley threw at her. Hayley had a lot of good hits and rallies, but her opponent was consistent and waited for her to make a mistake.
1st Doubles (Loss 4-8): Crystal & Coco were evenly matched with their opponents and had the marathon set this week. The score is a little misleading because the games were very close. Many of the games went to multiple dueces, but their opponents were able to win under pressure. The Newman team were strong volleyers and always kept a player at the net. This caused Crystal and Coco to play defensively, relying on lobs and trying to avoid the player at the next.
2nd Doubles (Loss 5-8): Joyce & Gemma our 2nd doubles team also lost their set. This was probably one of the closer matches, as both teams struggled to really find a good rhythm. Similar to the 1st singles team, Newman had a stronger net game and those net volleys created a lot of points. Joyce and Gemma we caught too far back or trying to defend shots at their feet.
Overall Score: 0-5: Although a loss, it was good learning experience for the varsity girls tennis team. Tennis is multi-faceted, and the game is not just about technical skills. It also requires strategy, patience, tenacity, reading your opponent and playing under pressure, these things comes with experience. We appreciate Newman's sportsmanship and helping us gain valuable experience.
The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.