It's been four years since I stepped onto Andover's campus as a student. Yet through the years, tennis season has indubitably been the backdrop of many of my fondest memories. Being on the team has made me a better team player, a more accountable person, and taught me how to support my peers better. While tennis is an "individual" sport, our wins don't come unless everyone feels supported. Being a part of this greater collective has been the most enjoyable part of each season.
Today, in a sweltering hot 88 degrees, I played my last match of the season…my last match of senior year…and my last tennis match of my high school career. And unsurprisingly, this match was against our rival: Exeter. I write tonight to remember this amazing match, which was one characterized by grit, perseverance, and "momentum" as our coach likes to call it.
During our warmup, I remember my body feeling sticky already. As I was standing at the net for some volleys, I was surprised by how merely standing there incited sweat to seep through my skin. We kicked off the match with singles. I played line 4, and after running through the lineup, we began warming up with our opponents. I played the same girl in singles whom I had lost 3-6, 3-6 to last week. It was also a hot day last Saturday, but nothing compared to the heat on the courts today. So during the warmups, I was wary, knowing that I'd been beaten last week. We each held serve until it was 2-3 her. Then, I broke away 4-3 at the changeover. Feeling happy about breaking her serve, I found momentum within myself to hit through my shots. But then, she caught up. The score was 6-5 me, and I lost the game. 6-6. I don't even remember what was going through my head at that moment, though I do remember losing the game by a hefty margin. I don't know how I got my momentum back, but I somehow won 7-2 in the tiebreak.
In our second set, I lost 3-6. I felt out of it. Coach walked up to me and told me that she could literally tell I was losing from the bleachers and that what I needed was an attitude change. Walking into the 10-point super tiebreak that would determine the match, I told myself, this is a clean slate. I have a chance now. I just need to break through and win the first couple of points to get a lead. And I found that lead. It was 5-2 during the first changeover (yes, we should have changed the point before). Then 7-5 during the next change over. Finally, at 9-6, I told myself, this is it. This is the point that I would win. I don't actually remember the shot that I hit but I remember my opponent's ball went out. It was one of those matches that took 3 hours and 24 minutes (yes I timed it) and left both of us tired and just wanting to get over with it. But I'm both proud and surprised by how I pushed through. While I didn't hit with the pace that I would have liked, I think that's what helped me win this week since last week. So 6-6 (7-2); 3-6; 10-6. When our match was over, all the other singles matches had been over for a while and doubles had begun. Coach told me that my match tied us up with Exeter. After singles, Andover-Exeter was 3-3.
Since my singles match took much longer than the others, my doubles match with PB started and ended last. We played #2 doubles and halfway through our match, the other two doubles teams finished. Our #1 dubs had lost and our #3 dubs had won, meaning the Andover-Exeter score was still tied 4-4. With everyone watching our match, PB and I knew that we were the determining game for this match. We started strong, up 3-0. But then, our opponents slowly began to creep up behind us, always just a game behind. The last score I remember was being up 7-5. We were up in the set 40-15 and Exeter was on serve and I was on the backhand side. The final point consisted of a couple of high groundstrokes and the winning shot was a short volley by me at the net. I think I will remember that ball forever. I've never hit the winning stroke by a forced error in a doubles match. It came just above my comfortable strike zone, floating towards the middle of the court. I bumped it over with a short volley that was so short I wasn't even sure it had gone over the net after I hit it. At this point, I thought I'd framed the shot and I kept thinking whether it was the right move to poach. But then moments later, I saw both Exeter girls rushing towards the net which was when I realized it had actually gone over. But it was too late. By the time it registered in my brain that they were running, the ball had already bounced twice. I let out a huge scream and the next thing I remember is the team, who had been watching on the sidelines, rush towards our court.
Coach repeatedly tells us: "tennis is all about creating your own momentum." This is perhaps the greatest lesson I've learned this season. Our match against Exeter today, in particular, showed me how momentum can indeed be generated from nothing but ourselves and how powerful it is in spite of encounters with skilled players. In fact, momentum comes from elevating every shot. Framed it? AMAZING SHOT! It's having that kind of mentality that enabled me to win both of my matches today. Two weeks ago, Pingree beat us 2-7. Last week, Exeter swept our team, as in, every single person on our team lost. Today, we won 5-4, our first win and last game. This makes me so happy and despite the stress of this match, for both Coach and each player, I am convinced that this was the best A/E I've had during high school. But I also learned an important lesson that I will carry with me because Coach's theory on momentum applies beyond the court too. Life is all about building momentum and confidence within ourselves in order to put forth our best selves in everything we do. Sometimes we just have to say those points that we win from a shank or frame are nevertheless good shots.
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