On Oct. 4, the tennis game between Eastlake and Issaquah was really intense. From the beginning, there was a constant back and forth in passes. You would not know who was going to win the round from time to time. Impressive fake outs were displayed and some positioning was very clever which would trick the opponent to position poorly. Junior Benjamin Kang says,  “I hit the tennis ball right in between both opponents,”

 As the game continued, Issaquah seemed to have dominated Eastlake as they kept winning more and more rounds and their teammates cheered them on during their plays. Eastlake also put out some plays and won some matches too by doing close-up shots or by confusing our team with different inputs of power on the swings, which led to bad positioning and footwork. Even the beginning games showed a promising win for Issaquah. Junior Jake Scalzo says, “I was really proud of how I served and how I volleyed and pouched my hits.” They served the hits really well as they won some rounds from those alone. They were also applying other techniques as they would provide pressure just by prepping up to swing for quite a bit before starting the round. 

There were a lot of mind games that lead the opponents into a panic which would lead to bigger openings during the match. Both sides were figuring out plans to win against each other and they would try different positions and shots. They also tried switching pitchers so it’s harder to predict the power on the swings. Even with the winning hand of the game they stayed humble and thought of ways to improve themselves for future games Scalzo says “In general we need to work more on our energy and put more pressure,” “We’re looking to improve on our overall consistency.” As the games were at a closing end, Eastlake put their last effort to dish out more rounds, which would lead to back and forth parries, but eventually they ended in a win for Issaquah. “They played incredibly well, they played smart, they were consistent and played tactfully,” says coach Nico Hakes. He adds, “It was fantastic because we lost to Eastlake previously, but we won this one. So, it was definitely a good win and we’re happy that we won.”