By: Megha Pendyala, Grace Wang, and Hannah You
The start of school beckons the beginning of another great tennis season. The girl’s varsity tennis team has been undefeated in divisional play once again. Williamsville East Girls Varsity Tennis has been working hard for weeks on end, starting from mid-August to the beginning of October, when the girls will be able to go to Miller Tennis Center to play for ECICS. Captains Megha Pendyala and Jasmin Nagra have high hopes for the team’s chances this year to make it to individual states.
This year, the tennis team has four senior starters: Jasmin Nagra, Megha Pendyala, Hannah You, and Grace Wang. Jasmin, who has played doubles every season, took on the mantle of playing second singles, with a very successful turnout. Megha Pendyala moved up the ranks to first doubles with sophomore Sophia Cong, being undefeated the whole season and gaining a high seed for ECICS on Oct 10. Hannah You also played doubles, starting at second doubles with fellow senior Grace Wang. They formed a powerful duo that has competed against tough teams with consistent strokes and solid communication.
Shifting focus from the seniors, we have junior Elisa Prelewicz, a tricky left-handed player with strong ground strokes, as our first singles. She has played great tennis against difficult opponents in the division.
Our main third doubles team has been sophomore Samar Ghadiyali and freshman Milan Malik. The third doubles team has also been switched, with eighth grader Leah You and junior Grace Zhang stepping in occasionally.
Outside of league play, we played Orchard Park and Clarence, two extremely strong teams with a lot of depth in their lineup. We played Orchard Park in the Section VI Team Championships’ Semifinal in a best-out-of-7 match format but lost 2-5, with our lone wins coming from our first and fourth doubles teams. We then played Clarence, who actually won the section title this year, and lost 1-4. Despite these tough losses, our team remains optimistic and motivated for the upcoming ECICs.
For ECICs, we have three doubles teams competing: Elisa and Jasmin, Megha and Sophia, and Grace and Hannah. Samar will be our singles representation in the tournament. Elisa and Jasmin did extremely well at ECICs, qualifying for states in NYC.
As our Williamsville East varsity tennis careers come to a close, we’d like to express our appreciation for all of the opportunities we’ve had and fondness of the memories we’ve made, on and off the court. From rooming at States to our “Dress as Coach” spirit days, we’ll sincerely miss high school tennis.
Thank you,
Williamsville East Girls’ Tennis