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Lessons at the Net

by Kaja :: Wednesday October 12, 2005

The Varsity Tennis Team had its first Condor League match today against Villanova. None of us were too pumped, because last year they beat us, and this season, we had already lost two previous non-league matches against Nordhoff High School (another Ojai Valley team). Everybody just wanted to stay at school, get work done and enjoy their Wednesday afternoon.

In the end, though, I decided to approach the match differently this year. I had a new partner, my cool friend Sophia, who has an amazing serve and backhand—making up for my lack thereof and also complementing my aggressive volley and net-play very nicely. We agreed that we were good enough together to at least intimidate the ‘Nova players, and that if we played our own game, then that was the best we could do and we would be successful, win or lose.

Sophia, knowing me so well, told me not to get angry with any of the rallies or the opponents because that would only mess me up and get me down. I took her advice and we did an awesome job! We both had some great gets and putaways, we called out “switches” right on time, and hit some deep groundstrokes into hard-to-reach corners. I loved that after every point Soyo and I could use our observations and create new strategies together. Also, we could correct each other in ways that helped us make adjustments to our game.

I loved playing with my new partner: she helped me so much with our game. Though our team didn’t win in the end, and Soyo and I lost our first set 1-6, we managed to crush their second and third doubles teams (6-2, 6-0) and to take their first to plenty of deuces. I didn’t let myself get angry at the other team and was able to play a pretty good game. I really appreciate my friend Soyo being there for me on the court and I hope to continue playing with her for the rest of the season.

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