Introducing the Girls Varsity Tennis Team for the 2024-25 Season! Girls tennis is a prevalent sport at Magnet, as this year, more than 45 girls tried out to be a part of the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams. Previously, we were not very successful in our region because we had to face Bishop England and Oceanside. But this year, since both teams have moved out of the division, we have a good chance of going far in the state championships! We are super active on Instagram, so go follow @amhsgtennis to hear the latest tennis updates, or get a shoutout if you come to a match! We recently had two pro players follow our Instagram: Maria Mateas (Current rank: 210 in the world) and Lily Yuriko Miyazaki (Current Rank: 233 in the world). Also, keep an eye out for mic’d up with the AMHS girls’ varsity tennis team on the YouTube channel amhsstudentnews. 

Let’s hear about the team:

On the varsity team, the captains are seniors Chloe Trowman and Lila Garrett. Chloe and Lila have been playing tennis all throughout their lives and high school and love leading this team! The other seniors on the team are Louisa Garrett, Susannah Spath, and Talia Barsness. Five seniors is an unusually high number for the tennis team, but they are all excited about this increased leadership. Next up, we have the juniors on the team, Sophia Easterbrook and Leah Bagg. This is Sophia Easterbrook’s third year on the Varsity team. When I asked her about her love for the sport, she said, “Tennis is such an individual sport, so to be on a team and play for months with a fun group is just a whole different experience and makes me love it even more!” Following those adored players, we have the Sophomores Emma Miars, Victoria Carabus, and Addie DeFord. Addie has played tennis for many years, and when asked about the sport, she stated that she “loves being a part of this team and knowing that people are there for [her].” Lastly, we have two talented freshmen, Maggie Schwartz and Kamya Pham. These 12 players are the best of the best when it comes to a speedy serve or topspin forehand on the Academic Magnet campus. We owe a lot of our technique and enjoyment of this season to our coach, Eric Barsness.

Secret Sister:

One of the most beloved Academic Magnet tennis traditions is secret sister. Secret sister is a team-wide activity where you randomly draw one of your teammates’ names at the start of the season. Nobody knows who has who, and we try to keep it a secret for the entire season. On one home match per week, your secret sister will deliver a treat to your first block class, hopefully remaining unseen. Each week has a different theme. Some common themes are breakfast, sweet treats, and favorite colors. Emma Miars says she “loves secret sister because [she] gets to give each other gifts that are special to each other!”

Upcoming In-Season Varsity Schedule: (@ = away, vs. = home)

• October 1st: Match @ James Island
• October 3rd: Match vs. Oceanside
• October 9th: Match @ Berkeley
• October 10th: Match @ Woodland
• October 14th: Match vs. Berkeley
• October 17th: Match vs. Hanahan (SENIOR NIGHT)

Senior Night:

Please come cheer on our seniors on senior night, October 17th at 4:30! All five of our seniors—Chloe, Lila, Louisa, Susannah, and Talia—will be playing singles against Hanahan. Free snacks and drinks will be provided, and there will be a celebration after the match. We would love to have your support!

Guide to Tennis:

Due to the complicated scoring system, many people view tennis as an unapproachable sport. There are many different tennis formats, depending on whether it’s a men’s, women’s, or junior match. The girls begin in a high school match with a five-minute warmup. Then, they spin the racket to determine who is serving first and which side each player gets. The first serve of every game is always on the deuce (right) side. The other is called the ad side. Players alternate serves every game, switching sides when the games add up to odd numbers.

In girl’s high school tennis, the format is two out of three sets. The goal of each set is to get to six games, winning by two. Each game consists of four points; love (0 points), 15 (1 point), 30 (2 points), 40(3 points), and when you win the fourth point, you have won that game. The server always announces the score of that game at the start of each point, stating their score first. For example, 40-15. If the score gets to 40-40, otherwise known as deuce, then we play with ad scoring. To win this game, a player must win two points in a row, the score being called out as ad in or ad out. If the games within a set reach 5-5, then you, the first person to reach seven games, win. But, if the games reach 6-6, then a 7-point tiebreaker is played to determine the victor of the set. Similarly, although the format is two out of three sets, the third set is played as a 10-point tiebreaker to identify the winner of the match.

In high school tennis, the players on each team (usually around 12) are ranked by skill level for the roster. Then, the top seven players play five singles matches and two doubles matches. Players below seven commonly play matches that are for practice called exhibition matches. A standard match normally lasts around an hour to an hour and a half, but some matches can be as short as 30 minutes or as long as 3 hours! This is why tennis is such a physically and mentally demanding sport. Cheering is encouraged, but only between points, as it should be close to silent within the points (including the players) to reduce distractions. At the end of the match, the players are urged to shake hands in a sportsmanlike fashion and politely walk off the court.

Thanks for reading this article, I hope you learned something, and make sure to come to senior night!