After a grueling set of matches, the girls varsity tennis team defeated Washington International School (WIS) 3-2 on Thursday, improving to an undefeated 3-0 in the PVAC (3-3 total).

The Lions swept doubles, with sophomore assistant captain Lily Rulnick and freshman Eliana Wolf coming back from a 4-2 deficit to win 10-4. Freshmen Maya Greenblum and Julia Yoskowitz also decisively won their match. In singles, junior Dalia Greenblum won her match 10-4. Dalia said she mentally felt prepared heading into the match, which helped propel her to a victory.

“I think that I was really confident and I had a lot of support for my teammates,” Greenblum said.

Greenblum has been working hard to improve her skills, especially with her slice shots. She said that as her opponent kept hitting lighter serves, she was able to slice them just enough to where her opponent could not get to them.

“Dalia has been working hard on her slice, especially outside of practice,” assistant coach and English teacher Sam Sullivan said. “You can see that it pays off.”

The Lions’ two losses came in singles matches played by eighth grader Gillian Krauthamer and sophomore Georgia Lindenauer. Both girls played hard but were unable to prevail. While Lindenauer’s comeback from down 8-2 came up short, the team still cheered her on from the sideline. 

Coach and PE teacher Alex Kirsch thought the Lions played very well overall. He said he really liked how his team stayed technical, especially Lindenauer, who even though she started slow, never gave up.

“She was being super coachable. She was hustling for every ball, and she was listening to my advice well,” Kirsch said. “Based on how her opponent was playing, being able to mix up and add a little diversity or shots, hitting short, hitting long, coming in to the neck coming back, more passing shots and being able to mix up her approach.”

Kirsch believes the team has improved a lot since the start of the season, helping them to win every match within the PVAC despite losing all three out of conference matchups. He credited the Lions’ victory to their confidence. 

“Just repetition and playing over and over again, getting that confidence that they know they can win and can trust each other and they can trust their teammates, is probably the biggest improvement overall,” Kirsch said. “Not necessarily skill base, but the mental side is probably the biggest thing right now.”