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On Thursday afternoon, Gainesville Hurricanes take home another win in girls tennis. The Lady Canes defeated P.K. Yonge with a 6-1 victory. Starting the season off strong, the team is now undefeated 3-0.
Court 1 Heat
Gainesville took all but one of the singles matches against the Blue Wave. The hottest and most grueling of the matches was on court 1. Gainesville senior Janani Kumaran took on Blue Wave’s Adriana Sanchez in one of the longest singles matches of the day.
Kumaran was the receiver for the first game and returned Sanchez’s hard serves with equally powerful returns. Kumaran kept Sanchez on her feet with a variety of topspins and short balls near the net. Falling short after the first game, Kumaran was eager for the second game. Going into the second game, Kumaran was confident about her serve.
After a back and forth battle of winning, Kumaran came into her stride during the sixth and seventh games. Kumaran had Sanchez making a handful of unforced errors and even gained a few unreturned serves as well.
Even though Kumaran won the last two games of the set, she barely lost ending the set with 3-4.
Janani Kumaran on what she plans to take from this game for upcoming matches.
Finishing Up
The rest of the Lady Canes defeated their opponents swiftly. The other four singles matches were won easily. Freshman Chloe Petrik defeated her Blue Wave opponent 8-0 and Claudio Araujo, junior also won all of her games. Freshman Stella Sumerlin had plenty of cheers from the crowd as she hit noticeable slices and winners.
The two doubles matches were not won as easily, but Gainesville still came out on top. Partners Janani Kumaran and Claudio Araujo won their match 8-4, and partners Abigail Bumgarner and Chloe Petrik also won their match 8-4.
Looking Ahead
The season for the Lady Canes is looking promising with a strong group of athletes ranging from freshmen to seniors.
Janani Kumaran on this years team.
Next up, the Hurricanes head back to the courts to host the Columbia Tigers from Lake City, Florida, on March 1st at 4 p.m. Gainesville hopes to further their undefeated start to the season next week.
