The game should have finished way earlier. The last rays of light were making their final statements at the edge of the horizon. 

Yet the bright yellow ball of fluff was still in a relentless back-and-forth beating in the last match between Interlake and Mercer Island.  

This was crucial – perhaps not so much a significant game for league standings, but a contest between two of the league’s best teams for a favorable start to the season. In high school tennis, seven matches are played to determine the victor of the day. At that point, it was three apiece. 

Interlake and Mercer, neck and neck, each vying to clinch the victory.  

The atmosphere was tense. Each point culminated with a roar from one team or the other, cheering their player on.  

Finally, it was Interlake to serve for the match at 5-2. For this deciding game every member of the team poured onto the nearby courts to watch. 

A few rallies were exchanged. A hindrance came from the other team. Chaos ensued. 

Our player, stiff from the pause from the dispute between the teams, went down with severe cramps. 

This was one of Interlake Varsity’s four losses over the entire season. On the surface, an 8-4 record is certainly not as impressive as the previous year’s 9-0 sweep, yet this year’s team was undoubtedly stronger than last year’s. Senior Justin Hudacsko asserts “I believe the team did extremely well; this was the most talented roster I’ve ever been a part of.” He agrees with junior Ethan Lee that “the challenge came from all the spontaneous lineup changes we made.” With a record team of 17 athletes, schedule conflicts and sickness created a new lineup for nearly every match. But, he says, “we worked it out and still performed great, supporting each other the whole way through.” 

Of course, that’s not to gloss over the losing matches the team went through. It was the regret of many members, such as freshman Nathan Kwan, to lose against a multitude of schools, such as “Redmond and Eastlake.” Interlake approached these matches knowing they could have won, yet unfortunate conditions and disorderly lineups led to losses that could have easily been victories. 

The Interlake JV Team had a slightly less successful season: junior William Yoon states how “last year we won almost every single match whereas this year we only won three.” However, he enjoyed “building community among the team” and they “had a great time saying goodbye to the seniors.” Sophomore Daniel Stepan adds on, saying how “The best part of the team is that nobody makes you feel worse after losing a game and always encourages you.” He really remembers “beating Sammamish with Jayden” as one of his best matches of the season. 

Interlake achieved much more during the post season matches in terms of results: first place across the entire Kingco league! A select group of the team took on league matches after the season, fighting to bring honor to the whole team. Number one singles player and KingCo singles champion Deepinder Singh highlights “clinching the decider match and beating Mercer Island” during post season as one of his favorite moments. Freshman Nikhil Sirivara states how his win in a gruelling “2.5-hour match during my first round of KingCo was definitely the highlight of my season.” Junior Soma Hirai “approached these matches much more strategically” and “put much thought into constructing a game plan,” which contributed much to his doubles bronze medal. 

Apart from winning, most of the team sees value in bonding and friendship throughout the season. Senior Selim Eke enjoys “playing together with teammates and cheering them on” during matches, similar to fellow senior Nick Panigassi saying that “going out with the team after a tough match” was the best part of the season. Clearly, community and a strong sense of friendship was something Interlake Tennis gave to all of its members.  

And a word of thank you to the wonderful coaches of Interlake Tennis – Coach Matthew Perlman and Michael Fritz. Senior Taylor Yarnell of the varsity team deems that “Coach was amazing in giving support and advice to the team.” Freshman Sena Uehara wholeheartedly agrees, saying that Coach Perlman was not only great at coaching but also “taught me how to calm myself during matches.” Freshman Chris Jin has similar things to say about Coach Fritz, saying “Coach Fritz is always there, supporting us and cheering on the team. He’s just a great coach overall!”  

And last but not least, for the players themselves and especially the seniors – well-wishes and congrats. Coach Perlman wants to emphasize that “I love getting to work with these kids. They are phenomenal young adults, and for the seniors, whether you’ve been on the team for 4 years or just 1, I appreciate the commitment you all made to tennis.” Seniors, your teammates will miss you very much and thank you for being a friend of yours in the past season. 

So good luck to the Interlake Tennis Team for States during the spring as well as next season!