By Peyton Cabiles (‘29) and Gemma Ricciardiello (‘28)
As winter draws nearer to J-DHS, the Girls Varsity Tennis teams closes out their season.
Junior Yara Fara, team captain of the Girls Varsity Tennis team, went 10-2 this season with her doubles partner, eighth grader Asha Viswanathan. The two of them earned the second place ranking in their sectionals tournament, which eventually led them to winning the sectional championship. “Viswanathan stood out this season,” said Farah; “she faced lots of adversity this season after coming off an injury then coming back at sectionals.”
Junior Kayva Arasu, a member of the Girls Varsity Tennis team, went 7-8 this season with her doubles partner, senior Kendall Cabiles. They won their first match at sectionals and unfortunately lost in the second round. These girls were ranked eighth. Arasu thought that their toughest opponent was Christian Brothers Academy. She thought it was more of the mental aspect instead of their actual skills. Arasu complimented her doubles partner, Cabiles, as both her doubles partner and also as a captain. “She was really insane, so nice to all of the girls and had a brand new team this year so it was really hard to lead but she did a great job at it,” said Arasu.
Sophomore Jackie Couto made it to the second round at sectionals before losing to Oneida Highschool, with her doubles partner, senior Flora Mei. “Our toughest opponent was either Baldwinsville High School or Fayetteville-Manlius High School. They are pretty big competitors,” Couto said. Couto was also impressed with Viswanathan for preserving and doing so well at sectionals, coming off of her ankle injury. “[Farah] also stood out this season for being a good captain this season,” said Couto.
Freshman Laila Khalil, member of the Girls Varsity Tennis team, went 9-3 in singles and 3-2 with doubles. She was ranked the eighth seed for individual sectionals. Khalil had made it to the second round but lost in that round. She thought her toughest opponent was Homer because they played consistently. She was double partners with senior Wenyan Ma. Khalil thinks that eighth grader Asha Viswanathan stood out the most on the team because she is impressed that she dealt with an injury during the season and was able to make a comeback.
