Heated Rivalry - by Reice Calamayan
Every single time it rained in tennis, whenever it rains, the match gets canceled and doesn't happen at all. Miraculously, this had happened two times or so between Richland High School and Hanford. Fortunately, today was the exception. It was sunny, and only a few clouds were visible. Today, nothing looked askew, and even better, it wasn't windy. Today, because the majority of the season, RHS had games with wind that would either work with them or be against them, and it was extremely bipolar towards them because wind can make a big impact on any game that involves the trajectory of balls. This was one of the many things that had made this day already better than most they had to deal with.
During the opening ceremony, the coaches even made jokes and funny remarks referencing the wild weather they would have. I was able to talk to both coaches, and this is what they had to say about their upcoming match. Coach Skylar said, "He was excited for matches that would be starting soon. He was expecting a pretty good fight since tennis is known as one of the sports that Hanford is good at." He also said that he was looking forward to the best singles players playing against each other, especially Matt vs Adam. This is a very anticipated matchup. I also asked coach Craig how he felt about the upcoming matches, and he said that he was a little nervous about the doubles match since their victory relied upon them, and the total match score he predicted would be 4-3 in favor of Hanford. Also, something extremely impressive that'll happen soon in this season is he'll be hitting 100 wins in tennis with around three or so losses, which, to say the least, is very amazing.
When the matches started, first up, it was Matt vs Adam. That match was intense. It started with beautifully well-placed serves from Matt, and he was able to score the first set and was at 5 points, but then Adam made a valiant comeback by scoring 3 points. However, Matt was able to stop the comeback and scored the finishing point to win the first set. During the second set, Adam was a little shaken up, but his mom and dad were encouraging him from the sidelines, saying things like, "It's ok, you can do it, you're doing well," and it was an admirable throw. He would try to change his playstyle, but in the end, Matt brutally destroyed him, making the end score 6-3 and 6-2. However, this would be one of the only wins we would get that night.
We would have our second and third-seat singles players, Jaitan and Soban, go up. Soban had an amazing game of tennis; it was by far the longest game that day. It lasted for three hours. It went on past all the doubles players. This match was extremely intense and had everyone watching the court, with the first set going in favor of Soban, getting a score of 7-6 with an evenly matched duel of rackets. The opponent Soban was facing was more defensive; however, Soban taking the initiative and playing more risky and offensively got him that first set. However, his opponent turned up the heat in the second set and played extremely well, getting the second set with a score of 6-1. All tied up, it went into a tie-breaker. It was an even match at first, but they were both rapidly adapting to each other's playstyle; however, Soban took it home for the win 6-3.
However, for the rest of the matches, sadly, we lost them, but we played well against Hanford and didn't have a single 0-6 score for any of the sets and scored a minimum of 3 points. It was a tough matchup, but in the end, it was a 2-7 score for the teams. It's to be expected since tennis is one of the only sports Hanford is good at, and we're just getting a new and better lineup this year, so it's understandable to lose to them. Overall, it was a good match, especially since it's been a long-awaited match because it rained out every time we previously were supposed to go against them. Hopefully, next year, we can be more ready to face them and have enough knowledge and experience to bring all the fire we need to beat them. Worth watching next time, and hopefully, I'll be able to catch a win next time. And make sure you root for your RHS tennis team!
