They throw the ball into the air as the opposing players ready themselves. Rackets and heads face the direction of the opponent. The ball hits the net – a fault. 

The players release themselves of their focus a few moments before preparing themselves for what’s to come. Shaking his head, the player gets into position for the next serve, ready to hit the ball into States.

This year, the Boys Varsity Tennis Team won nine games and lost one.

“I think the season was amazing,” senior Takuya King, who plays One Singles, said. “I mean, we knew we were going to be relatively strong this year and I think we exceeded those expectations, got top and we got fourth in the state, which I don’t think any of us expected.”

King said the team really focused on getting everyone together, with team dinners, hanging out with each other and always having each other’s back, as well as trying to meet at least once a week at each others’ houses.

“The past few years, we’ve always had something go wrong, like one of the doubles teams doesn’t work well together, or there’s one guy in the team that people don’t really like. But there wasn’t really any of that this year,” King said. “I think that’s a big reason why we were able to be so successful.”

King said that a doubles team can have two good players, but if they don’t work well together, then they aren’t going to be a good team.

Captain Anirudh Venbakkam, a senior, said the team had really good energy, unlike last year, which was a problem that ended up costing them the state tournament itself. 

Venbakkam said one of their best matches was when they beat Northville. He said it was a struggle to win, but a win nonetheless in a tiebreaker set.

This year, King ends his final season on the tennis team as well as his final year of high school.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing for the team these past four years. Every year it just gets better and better,” King said. “I hope that can continue to be a thing even once I’m gone.”

Ending his final year of high school and tennis season as well, Venbakkam also ends his year as captain.

“I feel like this is like a really good season to end off on being captain,” Venbakkam said. “So I guess I’m just honored to be a part of this team, to be a part of this program.”