Varsity tennis has ‘best season yet,’ players participate in CIFs

By Nicki Rosenberg and Celeste Ramirez|November 27, 2018

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Photo credit: Chloe Eshel

Sophomore Lexi Ben-Meir practices for an upcoming match. “The experience has been amazing — better than I could have imagined,” Ben-Meir said. “It’s like we’re all one big family.”

Though varsity tennis was undefeated in league and sent a record number of players to CIFs, junior Hannah Katzenstein said the team had its “best season yet” based not only on external accomplishments, but on team dynamic. 

Players said that the friendships that were created throughout the season allowed the team to succeed.

“The season as a whole has been amazing,” sophomore Amelia Stone said. “The friendships that I’ve made on this team, even the ones from last year, but just growing friendships this year has been a really amazing experience for me.”

Throughout the season, the team not only played after-school matches but also participated in the First Serve Tournament at Marina High School in Huntington Beach.

“We had an all-day tournament in September,” Katzenstein said. “We all got to get to know each other at the beginning of the season and we did really well.”

Although tennis is played in singles or doubles, the team still benefited from spending time as a whole and building stronger relationships.

“When we all put our efforts in together, we win,” Stone said.

Team members also commented on how, although it is very common for doubles partners to have a strong connection, this year the team came together as a whole. They said this contributed to the team’s success overall.

“We realized that every match counts. Although we play our own, they all go into one big win,” Katzenstein said. “It kind of made us closer together and [we] definitely had a bigger spirit and better spirit going into this season.”

After winning league, Naya Ben-Meir ‘22, Chloe Richards ‘21, Lexie Ben-Meir ‘21, Hannah Katzenstein ‘20, and Zoe Woolf ‘19 participated in CIF. This is the largest group Archer has ever sent to the tennis finals. Lexie Ben-Meir (’21), Zoe Woolf (’19) and Chloe Richards (’21) made it to the first round of CIF, while Hannah Katzenstein (’20) and Naya Ben-Meir (’22) made it to round three of CIF.

According to students, the team’s success has not only been ‘rewarding’ but has also boosted the sport’s popularity within the community.

“It was very exciting to be able to be on a team that did so well and that had so many components to it,” Katzenstein said. “I think that kind of put tennis on the map at Archer because it was kind of shadowed down by other sports going on right now. It was really exciting to be able to bring the win back.”