Tennis takes fourth at Mill Valley Invitational
Sophomores Jenna Doran and Hallie Scott encourage each other in between serves on Sept. 15.
The De Soto High School varsity tennis team competed at the Mill Valley Invitational in which they placed fourth overall on Sept. 15.
Junior Issa Sullivan finished second at No. 1 singles, and senior Bailey Ramsdell finished fourth in No. 2 singles. The two doubles teams of senior Kasey Seaba with sophomore Hannah Hamilton and sophomore Jenna Doran with sophomore Hallie Scott also competed.
Though the doubles teams did not place, they did imp
rove and grow as players, which was the main goal of this tournament.
According to Scott, they are still fairly new at playing together, so they are still “learning … and working on things.”
Head coach Justin Hoffman also commented on the doubles teams’ lack of practice leading up to the tournament.
“The week before the tournaments was all rain so we didn’t get much practice in,” Hoffman said. “It wasn’t the level of preparation I would have liked … especially with young doubles teams.”
The team also faced multiple hardships on Saturday, including 90 degree heat and the stress of homecoming.
“With homecoming and other barriers in the way, our mental state wasn’t real strong at the end of the day,” Hoffman said.
All the players could think about at Mill Valley was all their friends at homecoming, according to Sullivan.
The team had more success earlier in the week at the Baldwin Invitational on Sept. 12. At Baldwin, Sullivan defeated three-time 4A State Champion Brooke Hunter of Hayden Catholic High School.
“It was a big moment because Hunter had only lost but one match and it was really early in her freshman year,” Hoffman said.
Sullivan was behind for most of the match and unsure if she could win before she made a big comeback.
“I was really shocked. I didn’t really believe it until a couple hours later. I was really happy,” Sullivan said.
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Hoffman hopes to keep improving and win the first conference tournament on Oct. 2.
“If we can make a few adjustments in doubles, I think that [winning the first conference tournament] is still obtainable,” Hoffman said.
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