Senior Julie Chavez faces off against her teammate freshman Kailey Long in the final match of an all-varsity tennis competition.
the varsity girls’ tennis team won the Palomar All-League championship at Mission Hills High School On Oct 23 and placed third in the duo’s tournament against other public schools in the area. After three days of intense competition, senior Julie Chavez and freshman Kailey Long placed first and second in the singles competition after playing against each other. This tough game ended 6-2.
Varsity Girls’ tennis coach, Philis Dattilo, prepared them for the tournament with rigorous practice and training.
“They work hard on the courts and play a lot of sets. We do conditioning. We’re competitive.” said Dattilo
Chavez, the championship winner, has played for Poway since her freshman year. Chavez puts in time outside of practice and games to practice to prepare.
She said the game was bittersweet, because of the struggle of playing against your teammate, and the feeling of the win.
“ I want her to succeed, but I also want to succeed.” she also said, “When I finally won that game, It was kind of like I was over that hill you know?” Chavez said.
Freshman Kailey Long was the runner-up in the Palomar all-league championship singles. Long has played tennis since she was six and hopes to continue on varsity.
Long values the bonds she formed in tennis and found it especially hard to play against her teammate in the tournament “The best part of this season would be my teammates because they’re always there to root me on.” Long said.
The duo’s competition was held the same day, juniors Emily Farr and Alexy Gonda placed third. Farr and Gonda have been playing together since mid-tennis season this year.
The girls prioritize having fun and enjoying their time together on the court.
” We both don’t yell at each other,k We goof around..We aren’t taking it too seriously that we get stressed out on the court and overthink it,” Farr said.
