The stakes were high as senior Madison Vaughn sent the ball flying over the net in the first round of the regional tennis competition at Jackson Park. She and her partner, third seed senior Natalie Ciaramitaro, were conference champions in the doubles tournament, and were members of the only team from West that had all top six members competing in regionals.
“This is the best season out of all four years that I’ve played,” Vaughn said. “The team has improved so much from where we were last year. We’ve had a great record, and we’ve worked really hard to improve on our game.”
Ciaramitaro and Vaughn made it to the second round of the doubles tournament before losing a third set tiebreaker.
“We played really well, and it was amazing to be a part of the team, Ciaramitaro said. “It’s our last year, and I think we really lived it up and went out with a bang.”
Vaughn, the team’s second seed, said she improved from the first day she held a racket as a freshman to being one game away from advancing to the state tournament.
“I’ve really had to work on confidence,” Vaughn said. “Sometimes I got frustrated because I knew that I could play better than what I was at that time, so I had to learn to keep my cool and know that I can win.”
The Falcons finished the season by winning the conference tournament and maintaining a 17-5 overall record.
“A few matches this season have come down to the wire,” Vaughn said. “Sometimes during tournaments we’ve only won two singles and the other team has won four, and we’ve had to win all three doubles to win the match. A lot of games we’ve come from behind and done that, because we always know what’s on the line and work hard.”
Sophomore Savannah Smith also performed well at regionals, coming in first for the team with an overall score of 19-3. Freshman Carolina Herrera came in fourth with an average of 9-13.
“Even though we didn’t make it to state, we all played our hardest and that’s what counts,” Smith said. “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished as a team, and I look forward to practice to prepare for next season.”
