The girls’ tennis team lost to AMSA 2-3 during a long and difficult home match on Thursday, May 20.

Both the doubles teams won their matches, but all three singles lost their matches. The entire match lasted over two hours.

Sophomore Elly Beauchesne, who played the first singles match, was up against AMSA senior Kirstin Hailey, who is committed Division 1 to Bradley University for tennis.

“I was excited going into my match knowing that I was up against such a great player,” Beauchesne said. “I knew that I didn’t have a chance of winning going into it, but it was such a fun learning experience.”

Even though Beauchesne lost her match 0-6, 0-6, she found a way to keep her spirits up.

“I went into the match with a positive attitude,” Beauchesne said. “For me it helps to set little goals. For example: ‘let’s get this game to 40-30 or to not lose within the first 20 minutes.’”

Two varsity players took an AP exam on match day and missed the match. Because of this, many players competed in positions they usually don’t play in.

Sophomores Caroline Dune and Nina Viswanathan were among these players. They played the second doubles match, where they won 6-2 and 6-3.

“We had a second doubles team who played in their first varsity match, and they brought it; it was very impressive,” coach Julie Doyle said. “They had great teamwork, set up some beautiful points and I’m really happy for them that they ended up with their first varsity win.”

“This was my first varsity match, and I was really nervous,” Dune said. “I was excited too, but it was mainly nerves.”

After winning the first set, they were very optimistic about the rest of their match.

“We were so hyped up because we won 6-2, and we were really happy,” Viswanathan said.

Senior captain Kyla Pelham and junior Katie Cho also won in the first doubles match. However, Cho arrived at the match late due to an AP exam, so they played an 8 game pro set, where they won 8-4.

Junior Peyton Bure lost her singles match 2-6 and 1-6, and senior captain Yasmin Lee’s match had to go to a tiebreaker. She won the first set 6-3, lost the second set 2-6 and lost the tiebreaker game 10-12. 

“Our second singles player Yasmin Lee split sets, and I was very impressed with her shots,” Doyle said. “Even when she was behind, she went for every shot and was in it to the end.” 

Despite the loss, the spirits of the team remained high throughout the match.

“I was really happy about the energy that the girls brought because a lot of them had exams and we were playing in positions we don’t usually play in,” assistant coach Nancy Hart said.