The girls tennis team competed against Francis Howell High School on Aug. 29 in singles and doubles matches. New teammates and early-in-the-season injuries have been an obstacle for the girls thus far, and although the matches ended in a collective loss for our ladies tennis team, the girls competed hard and showed great effort.

Juniors Jordan Merli and Tori Ikeda competed in Tuesday’s singles and doubles matches. Playing our biggest rival came with anxiety and concerned anticipation for some of the girls.

“We kind of went in knowing that we were going to lose, which kind of showed when we started playing,” Ikeda said.

Ikeda wasn’t the only one with anticipated doubts over this match.

“We went into the match expecting it to be our hardest match this year, and it was,” Merli said, “Every time we play against Howell we know it’s going to be good competition.”

Unfortunately, for sophomore Makenzie Jones, her season was disrupted early on by sudden ankle injuries, and she was unable to participate in the match against Howell.

“I sprained my ankle during soccer practice, and was out for about two and a half weeks,” said Kenzie. “During the Howell match, I stayed and watched the girls and showed them support since it was such a big match.”

In addition to early injuries, the girls have had a tedious week, competing in matches everyday Monday through Thursday, and a tournament on Friday. Despite the long week these girls have had, they persevered and showed praiseworthy effort against Howell.

“We’ve had matches everyday this week, so we didn’t really have time to settle down and prepare before this match against Howell,” Merli explains, “With my doubles partner, I think we really stepped up and gave Howell a run for their money. I am really proud of our performance and the performance of the team as a whole.”

Although the overall results of the team wound up as a loss, the girls still feel proud of their team and their comprehensive performance.

“I am definitely proud of the team’s performance, because we all worked hard and gave effort even though we didn’t end up winning,” said Ikeda, “We still played hard and worked hard, so I am very proud of our team.”

Despite falling short against Howell, the girls tennis team has played hard, including opening their season with a win against Pattonville. 

Girls tennis twitter account: https://twitter.com/FHC_GirlsTennis