On Saturday, the Varsity girls tennis team traveled to Freedom High School in Oakley. Although the calendar read September 14, it felt more like July 4. The game was played at Freedom High School (editor’s note: the phrase “Let Freedom Ring” comes from it’s use in the Song “America” written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831, which Dr. Martin Luther King referenced in his I have a Dream Speech). We just watched another US Presidential Debate. Two Americans had just made it all the way to the US Open Finals: Jessica Pegula on the women’s side and Taylor Fritz on the men’s side, the first American man to reach the US Open Final since 2006. There was even a truck in the parking lot with an American Flag waving.
Against this backdrop, the patriotic girls from Lafayette battled tough competition and pulled out two victories. On the singles side, Grace Colaco played line 1, Sienna Moise line 2, Kate Widmann line 3, and Hetty Lofting line 4. On the doubles side, Jadith LaBonge and Ridhi Patel played line 1, Grace Britto and Riley Zirkel line 2, and JV call-ups Lauren Anderson and Maddie Obertello line 3, who made their varsity debut.
The team played McClatchy High School from Sacramento in the morning and won 4-3. Sienna Moise won in singles and the Dons had a doubles sweep. In the afternoon the won again 4-3 against Heritage High School. Hetty Lofting was the big singles winner with a comeback in the second set after dropping the first. She won the third set tiebreaker 10-2. Kate Widmann had a close loss in line 3 singles. The doubles teams swept again. The team didn’t nominate a player of the match, but all of the girls played really hard in the heat.
When I started writing Boosters Articles a couple years ago, I included a segment called “Get to Know Coach” where I interviewed the Head Coach at the start of the season, and then revealed their answers over the course of the season. Without further ado, Coach Langtry grew up in Hayward, California and is the 3rd of 4 children (she has 2 brothers and 1 sister).
Please come cheer on the team as they return home to take on rival Miramonte on Tuesday at 4pm. Go Dons!