The Lake Forest varsity girls tennis team has had an incredible season so far, and hopefully their terrific success continues into conference and the IHSA Sectional meet. Losing only to Stevenson and New Trier, the girls tennis team has continued to dominate singles matches after having a bit of trouble in the doubles matches early in the season. Junior Emily Asmussen, who typically can be found playing the first, second, or third doubles match, shared, “Doubles is a whole different game compared to singles; in one aspect, it’s not as much about who is the better team but more about who can bond better and who has better strategy, which we’ve developed over the season.” Following the first couple matches, the team has managed to clean up their doubles play, and has since lost very little matches in this category.

Being part of a team opens up a whole new world for tennis players. For Emily Asmussen, who has been on varsity tennis here at Lake Forest High School since freshman year, being on a team is privileged. “[High school tennis] can make an individual sport into more of a team. Tennis is such a mental challenge, but being on a team and having your friends cheering for you adds so much to the game.” She added, “You’re not doing it only for yourself but for the team.”

Last Tuesday, the LFHS Girls Varsity Tennis squad triumphed over Waukegan with a score of 7-0. In this meet, the Scouts only lost one game throughout all the counting matches. The next day, they continued their winning streak, taking down Glenbrook North (6-2). Highlights of this meet included Kiley Rabjohns winning her 1-singles match (6-2, 6-1), Emily Gorczynski taking 3-singles with a score of (6-4, 6-3) and the 2-doubles team of Emily Asmussen and Cody Avis defeated winning (6-2, 4-6, 10-6). I asked Asmussen how she liked playing with Avis, and she jumped at the chance to praise her teammate, arguing, “Cody went into the season not really a doubles player, but she’s picked up a lot of doubles strategies and has gotten much stronger mentally. I was thrilled to play with her and get the win.” In such an exhausting match, having a reliable partner is crucial. However, she continued, “If I had to give out an MVP award, I’d give it to our freshman Kiley Rabjohns. She’s an amazing player, but at the same time so humble and discreet about it. No matter who she’s playing against, she pretty much kills everyone… but you can never tell when she has won or lost a point because of her outstanding mental game.”

Conference is today for the LFHS girls varsity tennis team, and according to Emily Asmussen, “We’ve got a force coming out and I think a lot of other teams will be surprised at what Lake Forest is bringing this year.”