The drought is over; Wake Forest High School claims victory against Wakefield High

This year’s Wake Forest High School’s Men’s Tennis team beat our biggest rivals, Wakefield High School, for the first time in nine years.

This win marks a significant turning point for them, showcasing the years of hard work and dedication they put in to accomplish this goal.

The pressure of being the last match, which determines the win or loss can be very worrisome but the relief after the victory was worth the intense stress. “Our win feels very good to me because my match was the one that determined the win or loss, and it’s been so long and they’re our main rivals,” states Phillip Domack, junior.

An unexpected win like this can boost a lot of the players confidence, leading to a better and stronger season. “ I think that this was a great win in the beginning of the season, I think it will boost our confidence and we will do really well,” explains freshman Chase Atkins. Others on the team think they will win more games moving forward, “I think it puts high expectations for our team to keep going forward and hopefully get some more wins throughout the season,” states Jameson Dapo, freshman.

While being on the team can of course be stressful to keep up with practice and games, coaching can also be super overwhelming and challenging, having to say the right words of inspiration, to teach the players new techniques, and sorting out a plan to accomplish the wins.

Many coaches face unexpected team crises, injured players, or a full schedule. Overcoming these obstacles requires having the right mindset, patience, managing mental stress and to remain calm and be assuring to the players. Describing how the win felt, Coach Lesh responds, “I think it happened to be that we’re on an up year, meaning that we’ve got some stronger players and Wakefield’s players are not as strong this year but the boys played well, and for us to pull out a 5-4 win was fantastic.”

Overall, the hard work and dedication to accomplish the win against Wake Forest’s biggest rivals required a strong mindset, hard work, and supporting one another. The victory led to a majority of the team feeling as though the rest of the season will be better and easier for them because they know they can beat their hardest opponents, so they are ready for anything. It also encouraged them and gave them higher hopes for the future of their season.