By Danielle Church
News Editor
After placing fourth overall at sectionals for tennis, the doubles team of senior Katie Best and junior Christina Santiago along with the doubles team of junior Lauren Saiki and sophomore Alexandra Gorodiski are off to state.
The meet will start on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. and will be held at Buffalo Grove High School for the first time ever. This is the first time after 30 years that Prospect will not be hosting the meet. However, because there are over 100 singles and doubles players, Prospect will be one of the sites.
In order to prepare for the state meet, the girls have really been focusing on their volleys and how to be more competitive. According to Best, the reason they are practicing volleys more is because even though it’s not one of the most difficult aspects in the sport, volleys are a huge part of a doubles match.
To get that competitive drive, coach Michael Mccolaugh has the two doubles teams play against one another during practice. The two teams even had to play against each other at sectionals.
“It was weird and fun, but also kind of competitive,” Best said. “It was kind of difficult because we still wanted to win even though we are all friends.”
Overall, the team’s goal was to qualify for state. Now that their goal has been accomplished, Best says her new goal is to get through to the second round because the first is generally the most “cut-throat.”
Best and Santiago came in third place at the sectional meet and had some strong nerves while competing.
“I felt ridiculously nervous,” Best said. “I never really feel nervous when we play but there was such a large amount of pressure on me to qualify this year that I almost threw up on the court and my hands were shaking.”
Despite the nerves, Best and Santiago lean on one another for support during their matches. They help calm down one another so they can do their best. However, these girls believe they are truly great partners together because of their chemistry.
“Christina and I get along on and off the court,” Best said. “That is really important in doubles teams because you really have to learn how to communicate with each other. We communicate well and don’t yell at each other.”
Santiago agreed saying that sometimes the two get mad during matches, but it is usually never at each other. She also believes that their relationship will help them towards their goal while competing at the state meet.
“We’ve been playing a lot better lately and it should be interesting,” Santiago said.
