Valencia High School’s annual Fall Brawl proved to be an eventful day for tennis teams from all over the district, and West Ranch High School emerged victorious with the overall team award and eight players who earned individual trophies.

JV girls tennis teams from six schools in the district arrived at Valencia High School on a frigid Saturday morning with their game faces on. After a warmup with their teammates, the teams had a quick breakfast, checked the lineup, and regrouped on court one. Valencia coach Annie Kellogg made a quick speech before sending the singles players out to their courts.

The athletes were encouraged by cheers from each respective team. Shouts of “Here we go, Cats,” could be heard from across the street. Brooke Johnston (9), Jacklyn Van Der Colff (10), and Elizabeth Gammariello (11), advanced passed the first round.

When all the singles rounds had finished, doubles teams were sent out. Utilizing their best serves, groundstrokes, volleys, and strategies, all of the West Ranch doubles teams made it to round 2.

Gammariello defeated Johnston after an entertaining and close match. She went on to defeat a Hart player in the next round, advancing to the semifinals along with Van Der Colff.

In round 2 of doubles, all three West Ranch teams advanced to the semifinals. Another match between Cats took place when Nicole Augusta (9), paired with Ashley Tonthat (9), went up against Nina Contin (10) and Ariana Banerjee (10), West Ranch’s Line 1 doubles team. The match was a close one and ended with a giant hug between teammates. Contin and Banerjee advanced to the finals, and Augusta and Tonthat played to determine third and fourth.

In singles, the finals consisted of an exhilarating match between Van Der Colff and Gammariello. Gammariello took first with Van Der Colff earning second.

Banerjee and Contin played Madison Marks (10) and Kayla Halberstam (10) in the finals, another wildcat team. Banerjee and Contin won, and secured the first place doubles trophy, with Marks and Halberstam receiving second. Hart defeated Augusta and Tonthat after a long match, leaving the freshman with the fourth place win.

“I thought the team did excellent! We put together what we thought was our strongest team. Everybody played up to their potential and more, and the results showed when we took first and second in singles, and first, second, and fourth in doubles,” says Coach Garcia.

West Ranch brought their A-games to Fall Brawl and it definitely paid off! Congratulations to the eight cats who received trophies, and congratulations to the whole team, who received the overall excellence trophy. A special congratulations goes out to all members of the JV girls tennis team for winning league undefeated for the second year in a row.