Walking toward the courts after school, members of the CESJDS varsity girls tennis team knew they’d be in for a long match. Due to a previous rained out match, the JDS Lions and the District of Columbia International School (DCI) Dragons reconvened a month later to finish the matches they had started, and play another one.
In the non-conference match that began on Sept. 17 and finished Oct. 12, JDS won 4-1, with one match lost due to the absence of singles player junior Eliana Wolf. The new match ended in a 5-0 win for the lions.
“Anytime that you come out and you have nine matches and you win all nine of them, that’s a good day,” head coach Alexander Kirsch said.
The entire team had the opportunity to show their strengths during the match, with senior captain Lily Rulnick winning 10-3, senior captain Georgia Lindenauer winning 10-1 and junior Maiya Blumenthal winning 10-4, all in singles matches. The doubles pairs were also successful with juniors Maya Greenblum and Julia Yoskowitz winning 10-0, and juniors Sophie Schwartz and Jennifer Kelner winning 10-4.
Lindenauer was satisfied with her performance because she believed that her matches against DCI gave her the ability to try new things in a lower pressure environment. She felt that her skill level was much higher than her opponent.
“In practice, you can only play against so many different people, and having these matches where it’s not in conference and it’s not super stressful… it’s a good opportunity to work on your skills so that you can feel more confident putting them into those tougher matches,” Lindenauer said.
In addition to finishing the suspended match and having another match, it was senior night, so team members shared their admiration for the seniors, who are also the team’s captains. The captains have organized extra practices to help those who needed, and were a support system for the team, which are a few of the reasons the team sees them as big role models.
Greenblum shared how seniors Rulnick and Lindenauer have made an impact on her since she joined the team as a freshman.
The team is looking forward to their match against Saint Andrews on Oct. 20 which they believe will likely be challenging. The championship will be the following week on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.
Thinking back on this season as it starts coming to a close, Kirsch is proud of the many advancements the team has made both in their technical skills and as people. Similarly, Lindenauer is very happy with her team’s performance at matches like this one, and the team’s close bond that has formed throughout their many years of playing together.
“I think that this year, it’s been really special, because it’s sort of like Lily and my last hurrah on the team, and we’re just trying to get everything we can out of every moment,” Lindenauer said.
