VHS girls’ tennis wraps up regular season

After sweeping Cascade, Pirates lose to Charles Wright

The VHS girls’ tennis team wrapped up its regular season this week, splitting its final two matches for an overall record of 4-5 and a league record of 3-3 and second place. The team showed steady improvement over the season, and the varsity and JV teams finished the year playing at a much higher level than they started.

The team played its final home match against Cascade last Tuesday.

The match started with a Senior Day celebration honoring the team’s eight graduating seniors — most of whom have been in the program for four years.

The match was also live-streamed so that people who couldn’t get out to see a match in person could get an idea of how the team plays.

In no. 1 singles, Paisely Lieske dropped a hard-fought match to an excellent Cascade player. At no. 2 singles, Maggie Battisti took a solid straight-set win to even the score. After a close first set, Tobin Vaughan/Lia Crawford pulled away to a straight-set victory at no. 1 doubles. Lauren Henley/Ashley McArthhur played a solid match at no. 2 doubles to seal the win, and Mira Zike/Sarah Cooper completed the Pirates’ sweep of the doubles with another straight-sets win and a final score of 4-1. Also recording strong wins in the JV matches were Clara Atwell/Margot Armstrong, Aislin Pickney/Sequoia Gregorich and Bella Crayton/Bea Quarta.

The Pirates completed their regular season with a trip to Charles Wright. Charles Wright has an exceptionally strong team this year, and they swept the same Pirate lineup fresh off its strong win against Cascade. Despite the 0-5 loss, there was a bright side for the Pirates — their set scores were much better than in prior match-ups, and in four of the matches, the Pirates had a chance to take one of the sets. Mulvihill hopes this will translate to more competitive matches in the league tournament.

Next up for the Pirates is the Nisqually league tournament on Thursday in Tacoma. The Pirates will send Paisley Lieske and Maggie Battisti for singles and Tobin Vaughan/Lia Crawford and Lauren Henley/Ashley McArthur for doubles. For those players who qualify from League, the District Tournament will be held Wednesday and Thursday, May 15 and 16, at Sprinker tennis in Tacoma.

—By VHS tennis coach Pat Mulvihill