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![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
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![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Varsity girls tennis team repeats as CCS Champions with 6-1 victory over Menlo
Rachel Hernandez (10) serves the ball. The varsity girls tennis team defeated Menlo 6-1 on Saturday at Bay Club Los Gatos to repeat as CCS Champions.
November 16, 2021
The varsity girls tennis team defeated Menlo 6-1 on Saturday at Bay Club Los Gatos to win their second consecutive Central Coast Section (CCS) Championship.
Natasha Rajaram (10), Sophie Hernandez (10), Emily Novikov (11) and Sara Wan (11) all won their singles matches in straight sets. Anushka Mehrotra (11) and Audrey Feng (9) won their doubles match 3-6, 6-0, 6-1, while Rachel Hernandez (10) and Olivia Guo (9) won their match 6-7, 7-5, 10-8. Senior Anishka Raina and freshman Charlize Wang lost their match 2-6, 3-6.
“It was really exciting,” Sara said. “All of us put in our full effort. We went in pretty confident, but we were also really cautious at the same time. We played really well together and the team spirit was there.”
Zeke Weng (11) watched the match with his friends, wanting to support his fellow Eagle athletes.
“I came to support all the athletes because they put in a lot of work. It’s a great accomplishment to make CCS finals,” Zeke said. “Even in the sports I play, I cheer on my teammates, and this is pretty much the same thing.”
Upper school athletics director Dan Molin praises the varsity girls tennis team for their consistent dedication and effort.
“We’re very proud of them,” Molin said. “They’re the number one seed, and a lot of people considered them the favorites, but they’re never complacent, and that’s what makes them great champions. They just play hard no matter who the opponent is, and they don’t take anybody for granted.”
With their victory in CCS, the girls will advance to the quarterfinals of the NorCal Championship, which will be held at the Broadstone Sports Club in Folsom this Friday at 10 a.m.
Additional reporting by Sabrina Zhu.
