Tennis Makes History By Defeating Lake Highlands
Sophomore Jesse Dejong follows through on a serve against players from McKinney North HS. The team beat Lake Highlands on Tuesday for the first time in two decades. Photo by Ryan Durbin
By Jacob Richman
For the first time in over two decades, the varsity tennis team beat Lake Highlands HS on Tuesday, 13-5.
The team was optimistic going in, aiming for a high seed in the district tournament.
“My expectation I had going into the match was not to win, but to play our strongest and not give them points they didn’t earn,” Coach William Manhkong said.
Sophomore Kevin Krishnan and junior Romano Natale were standout players in the team victory.
Krishnan played a heavily contested match in the #3 spot for boys’ singles. He dropped the first set and came back to win the second set, and finally won the match after two tiebreakers. Natale won in straight sets.
This win means that the team is in a strong position to take first place in district, which would mean a high seed in area.
Even with the team’s success, Manhkong believes his team can keep improving to be prepared for future competitions.
“Our biggest improvement from here is to make sure we are winning the long rallies and keeping our composure in tough matches,” Manhkong said.
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