This past Tuesday, the Lakeview girls tennis team took a trip to Boardman and Poland schools to compete in the division two, northeast sectional tournament.
The Lakeview girl’s tennis team finished the season with a record of 5-6, getting 3rd place in the NE8 behind Poland and then Struthers on the top. The girls’ tennis team had 3 graduating seniors, Emerson Hyde, Marissa Eddy, and Zoe Baker. Lakeview’s seven starting players also included sophomore Sophia Shuster an juniors Ella Yarabenets, Katie Wutrick, and Franki Fonagy.
Lakeview’s first match included our second doubles team, Fonagy and Eddy vs. Chesney Knapkiewicz and Mackenzie Palmer from Beaver Local. In the first set, Fonagy and Eddy were defeated 0-6. In the second set, they got back into their groove and defeated Knapkiewicz and Palmer 6-2, bringing them to the tiebreaker. After a tough fight, Fonagy and Eddy were defeated by 4 and were knocked out of the tournament.
After being asked how her senior season was Eddy commented, “This tennis year has been so fun and I have made so many good memories with all of the girls on the team. We are all so close and I’m sad to leave, but I’m just so thankful for all of the great memories from the past four years.”
Lakeview’s second match included our second singles player, Yarabenets, who faced off against East Liverpool’s Madyson McCready. After a competitive game, Yarabenets came out on top, advancing her to the second round of sectionals. In round two, Yarabenetes faced off against Cardinal Mooney’s Brooke Campbell. Yarabenets ended up falling 1-6, and 4-6.
Lakeview’s third match was our #1 doubles match, consisting of Hyde and Wutrick, where they faced McDonald’s Amanda Monk and Emma Brundy. After the first game of the set, they went to Lakeview, and that was all they got where they were defeated 1-6 and 0-6.
After being asked what her favorite memory was while playing tennis at Lakeview, Hyde comments, “My favorite memory from my four years of playing tennis would have to be senior night. The underclassman did a great job at decorating the court and getting us gifts. When playing that night, I went undefeated winning 6-0 6-0 which was followed up with a big congratulations from the whole team. Our coach also did a fantastic job at making sure our night was special. The whole night was a lot of fun and would have to be my favorite memory of my high school career.”
Lakeview’s Baker played in the 3rd singles spot where she faced Beaver Local’s, Quqi Lin. After a close, competitive match, Lin ended up coming out on top beating Baker 3-6, and 5-7.
Lakeview’s Final matches included the #1 singles player, Shuster. Shuster faced off against Liberty’s Haley Holland, where Shuster completed the clean sweep beating her 6-0, 6-0, advancing her to the second round. In the second round, Shuster went up against Cardinal Mooney’s Mary Baker. After a close game, Baker ended up beating Shuster 1-6 and 1-6.
When asked what she looks forward to for tennis next year, Shuster comments, “Something I’m looking forward to this upcoming season is definitely the new opportunities that I get, to challenge myself to push me to be the best player and teammate I can be.”
And that does it for the 2023-2024 girls’ tennis season. From last year, the girls have improved immensely this year, being 3rd in the NE8, and winning 5 games, after playing a pretty tough schedule. Lakeview tennis lost 3 talented seniors this year but I am so excited to see what next year will bring for Lakeview with some talented 8th graders coming up.
