The tennis team lost to Forest Lake Christian on April 9, struggling again due to lack of attendance.
The five team members who attended the match were all defeated.
Sophomore Emil Erickson was defeated playing number-one male’s singles, and senior Grant Miner was defeated in number-two male’s singles.
Seniors Lara Kong and Anna Wiley played number-one singles and number-two girls’ singles respectively.
“(My opponent) is one of the best people at the school and then there’s me who doesn’t know to play tennis even a little bit,” Wiley said.
Wiley and Miner were both defeated 0-6, 0-6.
“Nobody showed up is all we can see,” Miner said. “Our best guys couldn’t make it, and we only had two girls. The people who just started playing tennis were playing their best people.”
Kong had a little more success losing -6, 1-6. Kong and her opponent had strong rallies, she said. But it ultimately came down to who made the first mistake.
Seniors Maxwell Shukuya and Chris Liston were crushed 0-6, 0-6, 0-2, in the only doubles match of the evening. Although Liston was not officially on the team, he played so the team wouldn’t have to forfeit yet another match.
Despite the loss, Shukuya found that he was able to follow the game a lot more than his last match and was very grateful for the good nature of his opponent.
“I was actually able to tell Chris certain rules,” Shukuya said. Shukuya added that this was the second game of tennis he had ever played, and Liston hadn’t played tennis since the fifth grade.
“The main issue the tennis team is facing this year is that the team is not very high on the priority list for many (not all) of the players,” said teacher Patricia Jacobsen, who takes the students to the tennis matches. “This week, many of the players are missing because of yearbook work night, play rehearsal and dedication to academics.”
