*Pictures will be uploaded later

By Christine Bach | Staff Writer

The Irvington boys went into their match on Apr. 17 confident as recent practices left the boys feeling assured of their abilities to beat Washington. However, Washington is known to constantly change up the pace of the matches and tiring out the opposing team with their aggressive style of play, making them a tough opponent to beat. Despite this, Irvington’s hard work practicing on the courts would pay off as they cruised to a victory winning 16-1.

“Washington is a respectable team in our league and we always have competitive matches with each other,” says senior Travis Huang, who plays varsity doubles. “They were pretty good, it was a tough match.”

Throughout most of the matches, Irvington was able to gain a big lead by matching Washington’s aggression hitting the ball. It was obvious that Washington wasn’t prepared for Irvington’s intense style of play as they soon tired out in last few sets. Captain Chris Fan attributes their large success to their notoriously long practices: their twenty five hour practices per week are the longest in their league.

Even with a big lead, Irvington never let down the intensity of the game, allowing them to continue adding on to their already sizable lead. However, even though all the players seemed serious on the court, the players made sure they had fun playing while maintaining their aggressive style of play. “We were able to beat them so easily because we all know that we worked hard to be a good team and that the best way to play is to have fun with it.” said varsity doubles player Javier Chew. “Our captains are also a big reason why we want to win so badly because they motivates all of us everyday.”

Many of the tennis players attribute their success on the court with their relationship as a team off the court. Although tennis is often seen as an individual sport, the entire team would cheer each other on during the matches. “The team really stuck together as a whole. Tennis may be an individual sport but we remained united across the courts and cheered ourselves on nonstop.” said varsity doubles player Amarinder Chahal. “That and our captains, Chris Fan and Hami Rath, worked really hard to build team spirit and bring us together.”