As the sun set and the final matches against Hanford West High School came to an end, the Sierra Pacific girl’s tennis team lined up in front of their coach, waiting to send off their three seniors on the team.
The night of Oct. 13 was a big night for the Golden Bears as it was the senior night for the girls, a final day for the seniors to be celebrated by their team and for the younger members to show how much they appreciated their seniors. A night started with smiles and laughs due to their final winning score of 5-4 quickly turned to heartfelt tears as each underclassman stood up and spoke about how the seniors had impacted them and their team.
“It’s kind of touchy because I almost cried,” said Sayra Aguirre, a senior on the team, “the girls did an excellent job making sure the seniors felt all of their love.”
Aguirre then said that she had only been on the tennis team for one school year, but the girls on the team did a great job welcoming her and making her feel like a part of the team. She explained that there was never a point in time in which she felt left out.
“I see the team as my sisters and don’t feel any loneliness or exclusion from them,” she said, “they mean a lot to me.”
Aguirre expressed that she believes the girls will genuinely be pretty strong next year, even without the current seniors.
“Their bond is unbreakable and will lead them to great things, the potential each of them have is great. I believe that when it’s time, they will become tennis superstars,” she said jokingly, “but they will be really good and their teamwork is really strong.”
The senior girls weren’t the only ones who felt saddened by the end of their time on the team, though.
“I’m very sad because I grew a strong attachment to them,” said Sydney Reis, a sophomore on the team who joined earlier this year, “I have to move on and I’m not ready for that.”
Reis said that her bond with the team was really close and that she had also been welcomed quickly by the seniors, mainly Hannah Nguyen who Reis had easily befriended.
“I feel like we all like each other,” she said, “we all have fun and enjoy each other’s company.”
Despite all of the sadness surrounding senior night for the girls, Reis explained that there were plenty of happy moments full of laughter and joy for them due to the underclassmen’s sneaky planning.
“Someone made a group chat and then we started saying our ideas,” she said, “I came up with the idea of giving them baskets and each of us [the team members] getting them something.”
The coach also joined in on the fun, giving each of the senior girls a plaque with their name on it and thanking them for their time on the team. He gave each girl a handshake and wished them luck in their future endeavors as well.
“I think it turned out pretty good!” Reis said, “We had a dance battle that I didn’t plan, but it was pretty entertaining and fun.”
