By: Macy Dennon

News Editor

LGHS Girls Tennis teams kicked off their season after a successful preseason. The team has been practicing non-stop to organize their lineup. As a result of intense heat, the game scheduled for Sept. 1 was canceled. They played Wilcox on Thursday, Sept. 15 and won six of the seven matches. Alex Varivoda’s doubles match, played with Nitya Jhamb, was three sets. The first with a score of 4-6, the second set was 6-4, and the third and final set was 10-8. The other two doubles pairs consisted of Kaley Do and Natalia Figueroa, and Julia Kennedy and Michaela Thimot. Kayla Mitchell, Rosa Sahandi, Zoe Swanson, and Valeriya Marinicheva  all played individual singles matches, with all of them pulling out a win for LG Girl’s tennis. 

This year, senior Varivoda returns as captain for the girls team. She explained, “We have been doing a lot of challenge matches, and just figuring out who is going to be singles and doubles.” According to Varivoda, the recent heat posed a struggle to the team and their upcoming matches as they had to reschedule: “We could not play outside, so we had a weight room… one day a week, but we mostly had to work out on our own.” 

The team will work hard to make sure their next matches go well, as they had a close and upsetting loss in their first preseason match.  

Though the season is just ramping up, the team already feels more connected than ever. Varivoda commented on the community within girls tennis, saying, “We are all really close. It is like a big family.” The team was blessed with several new freshmen this season. Varivoda mentioned, “We have a lot of younger players so all of the other players definitely have to chip in a little bit, but it has been really fun.”

A pivotal member of the Los Gatos High School Girl Tennis team, Varivoda was a captain her junior year. She admitted, “I have had a lot of experience so it is not too bad of a transition this year.” Varivoda’s love for tennis stems from many years of practice and growing up around the sport. In her early years, she spent her time playing with her dad and going to clinics. She expressed, “Tennis is kind of a part of me… I just kind of got into it slowly.” Varivota revealed her excitement for the year and her overall optimism heading into these next matches. She said, “We have a pretty strong team this year, stronger than last year, so I am hoping we can get a little farther.” 

LGHS Girl’s tennis is just getting started, so be ready to cheer them on in Fremont on Sept. 27 and Santa Clara on Sept. 29.