The boys tennis team had a monumental season compared to the past five years with a 15-2 record. Freshman Aayush Rane (he/him), who has been playing tennis for five years and made varsity as a freshman, spoke on their strong start in the season kickoff game against Kamiak High School, which had a 6-1 final match score. Each tennis match involves four singles and three doubles games, leading to a total cumulative score of seven points. In this season opener match, Inglemoor won six of the seven games, carrying momentum through the next 12 wins. Rane said the team culture is strong, with the whole team filled with spirit and the away-game buses filled with cheers in excitement and anticipation.
Rane said he admires the support by upperclassmen, specifically the captains. Rane said they made him feel like he is a part of the team from the start and have inspired Rane to run to be a captain in the future with hopes of paying the kindness and encouragement forward.
“They made me feel really included on my first day, so I feel like I should do the same for other freshmen,” Rane said.
Overall, Rane believes that the boys varsity tennis team has a very tight knit environment where everyone is valued, with trust and dependability present when it comes to both practices and games.
Rane said a notable tradition he has enjoyed over his first year is when someone brings bagels for every single game. He said that someone brings cream cheese and the team bonds by making cream cheese bagels together, which has come to be his favorite tradition.
While varsity and JV practice separately, sophomore Alex Cooley (he/him), who was new to tennis and began playing when he joined boys JV tennis his freshman year, also agreed the JV tennis team exemplifies a team atmosphere.
Cooley said his favorite part about tennis is seeing improvements in his work ethic and communication skills. Cooley said focus — a trait he values seeing in his teammates — is most important to him because he believes it has made for a successful season this year.
The team’s concentration, hard work and dedication to improve pays off in games, as proven by this year’s strong record. Both Cooley and Rane said they prefer the thrill of competing over more-relaxed practices. Rane loves the excitement of matches due to the high pace and thrilling energy that everyone brings. He knows the team’s hard work throughout the season will pay off, with the team shining for their audiences and dominating matches throughout the season.
“It’s really fun to play a big match when a bunch of people are watching,” Rane said.
Despite Cooley being a multi-sport athlete and also a beginner at tennis coming into high school, this season he was met with encouraging teammates who share similar work ethic to him and with whom he has made great memories. He especially loves how supportive the tennis community is and the camaraderie that comes with it, and said people who are looking for an encouraging atmosphere should join the tennis team, whether it be JV or varsity.
“The coaches are great, the community is great,” Cooley said. “You should join.”
