by Ben Schmidt, STAFF WRITER
20 April 2018
“I’m very pleased with the outcome of the match. I think it’s shown me what I need to work on as an individual and what me and my partner need to work on as well,” sophomore Abhi Malhotra said. Photo by Ben Schmidt.
Last Tuesday April 17th, the East varsity boys’ tennis team took on Plainfield North at home. The match consisted of three singles and four doubles, and East took home the win by a score of six to one.
Although it’s early in the season, going into the match East had not yet lost a conference match. If they wanted to keep it that way, it was important to be well prepared and practice for Plainfield North.
“I take my preparation for matches very seriously. I work on aspects of my game that need some tweaking or improvement in practice, and then integrate my practice to matches. As a team we do multiple drills to practice skills. We play games to keep the competitive spirit alive as well,” sophomore Ashwin Ramesh said.
This preparation certainly paid off, as East opened the match by all three singles winning on their own, meaning only one doubles team had to win. No single even lost one of the three sets they played.
“I felt we came out and played well and played consistently. We’re improving each and every game, as our doubles are playing well together, and our singles are playing well,” head coach Scott Gengler said.
As the team moved on to the doubles, they were able to relax and just focus on playing their best, since the singles had already done so well. The certainly performed at the same level though, as they too won three times, with only one double taking a loss.
“I think the reason I was successful today was because of my ability to play consistently. My partner, Jayden, played excellently as well, so that contributed to our win,” sophomore Abhi Malhotra said.
With the win secured, the team walked off the court after a successful day. The team was pleased with their efforts, as they were able to accomplish what they had practiced for.
“I am very pleased with the win against Plainfield north. All conference matches are extremely important for the conference tournament. We are aiming to be undefeated in conference and the streak continues with the result against PNHS,” Ramesh said.
Even though not every player on the team won individually, since the team was able to achieve its overall goal of winning the match the players still feel accomplished. With a team like the one East has, its more about everyone rather than one player.
“I think as long as the team is winning and it’s not necessarily the individual teams or the individual players, what’s most important is that we are undefeated for the season and I think that’s the biggest thing I could take away so far. It doesn’t concern me about individual wins or losses but just us coming away with wins,” sophomore Sahishnu Boyapally said.
What this win also did for the team was give them confidence moving forward. Without a loss thus far, they are able to play knowing they have what it takes to win.
“The team is very confident moving forward. We were conference champs last year and we plan to go back to back. It’s important not to get to cocky, but we know we can do it,” Malhotra said.
As the team continues on it looks to say hot and keep winning. They will be attending an invitational event this Saturday at Hoffman Estates.
Ben Schmidt is a staff writer for Oswego East High School’s online news magazine the HOWL