The varsity tennis team won their district matches against Heights High School and Lamar High School at Lee Leclear Tennis Center on Sept. 27 and Sept. 28. The team played both double and single matches until 10 wins and will be moving onto bi-districts. Many obstacles were faced before the team could get two trophies and gold medals for each player.

Despite the recent news that affected the morale of the team and the absence of Coach Anthony Kirk during the Heights match, the team was able to win 10-2 against Heights and 10-7 against Lamar.

“I think I faced considerable challenges and just had a multitude of emotions, feelings and overall shock,” sophomore Saachi Gupta said. “I had to separate two parts of myself and completely focus on tennis, probably for the sake of my sanity. Coach also wasn’t there which was also a factor but I’d say we have a very mature team and handled it well.”

The timing of districts at the end of the cycle also posed challenges for a few players who missed classes, preparation time for major tests and had to make up work.

“The calculus test I was supposed to review for in school seemed much more intimidating to me because I was not there in class to look over my notes, and I was also too exhausted to study at home so I only got one day to study,” junior Dhruv Balivada said. “However, I still do not regret playing for the team because it was really fun overall despite the heat and the exhaustion.”

While preparing the tennis players for their big matches, Coach Kirk said the good teams may be challenging and the Lamar matchups would be very tight.

“I told everyone going in that we were playing really big teams and that it might get frustrating,” Coach Kirk said. “But I think the big picture is that when you play people that are better than you, it makes you better.”

Balivada was paired with his friends from Lamar for singles and doubles matches. He said he really enjoyed playing with his friends because they made the serious matches more lighthearted and fun.

“We thought it was a good rematch because we played each other in the last districts,” Balivada said. “The stakes were not that high though because we all are so used to playing matches together for fun, in fact, it felt more like a practice match. Because we were so close as friends, we were able to cheer for each other, take wins and losses easier and take long breaks. It was all smiles and jokes throughout the match so there was no pressure on us.”

Bi-districts will be against Jersey Village High School and Katy high schools on Oct. 10 or Oct. 11.