The Issaquah Eagles won their tennis game against Skyline High School on Tuesday, April 2 with a total score of 7-0.
There were many interesting and noticeable events during the game. During a singles match, the score was 5-0 with Issaquah in the lead. For a doubles match, Issaquah led against Skyline 3-0. However, for another singles match, the score was 2-1 with the Eagles in the lead but with Skyline catching up. The Eagles played strongly with occasional mess-ups like unproper serves and the occasional miss of the racket. After about 45 minutes into the game, IHS was winning on all of the courts.
On the court, some of our players showed off their awesome backhanded swings, hits that got so much height, and dangerously low swings that ultimately paid off. In addition, the players on the doubles court displayed awesome teamwork, collaboration, and communication even as they were constantly running around on the court to hit the ball. Head Coach Nico Hakes says, “For this match, we didn’t have enough preparation time, but what we did during our last practice was focused on a lot of communication for doubles because that’s something we needed to work on and quality foot movement so that we’re in the right place when we actually hit the ball to have a better probability of having like a winner or even just getting the ball back in.”
When watching the girls volley the ball across the court, the practice and dedication they put into their moves were evident. Freshman Elizabeth Lakely says, “I’m proud that I didn’t let that first set where she could’ve won get in my head. I’ve kind of moved on from that and didn’t get distracted by that.”
After roughly one hour into the matches, new scores were displayed. Some courts had reset their scores and started new games. On the singles courts, IHS was winning with scores like 5-0, 3-0, and 5-4. The doubles match had also reset their scores and were at 1-0 with IHS in the lead. With the reset of new scores also came the exchange of one singles game to a doubles game. Junior Nancy Kim says of her doubles partner, “It has been a while since me and Hannah have played together so I think we did well together in doubles, and it was nice playing together again.”
As the game continued, scores would continue to go up and teams would continue to change and switch. However, regardless of how tired the team probably felt, they played with determination and patience. Coach Hakes says, “I’m incredibly satisfied with it [the team’s performance]. I think they are playing really well. They are taking every opportunity to get points when they are there. They aren’t trying to reach for anything. …This year we are playing really well and it’s reassuring to see that even when playing a team that’s having a down year, we’re not playing down to their level and we’re playing exactly how we need to, to play fast and to continue to improve.” In the end, our Issaquah Eagles won the tournament with a score of 7-0 and are prepared to carry on their victory to their next game on Thursday, April 4, against Newport High School.
