At the end of a successful season where Liberty High School tennis finished with a record over .500, Liberty lost a well-contested meet 3-4 against Issaquah on Oct. 10.
“It was a tough match,” Head Coach Carola Dopps said. “It’s difficult to be in the right spot at the right time during the whole match.”
A key momentum shift occurred from the doubles one match with Liberty’s senior captain Alan Di and sophomore Alex Karnes. The first set was extremely close, as both teams traded games back and forth until they reached a six-six tie. Di and Karnes eventually lost on a 10-point tie-breaker before drastically losing the second set.
“They’re definitely really good, but I thought we also played really well, or as well as we could have expected. It was really cool to be able to compete like that and practice our strategies ahead of the postseason,” Di said.
Dopps was very complementary of Karne’s ability and impact during the doubles match, especially as a sophomore.
“He’s tough and looked very promising today,” Dopps said. “We hope he keeps growing and keeps playing tournaments and strengthens the team.”
After losing the important doubles one match, Liberty needed a boost. They found this in senior Singles four player Nolan Nguyen, who won his match 2-0 after two dominant 6-1 set performances.
“My opponent was doubting me at first. He probably saw my form and thought I’d be easy, but when I played him, I showed him that I’m the best singles four player out there,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen attributes his calmness under pressure to his mentality, which he gains from watching professional and collegiate athletes.
“I really look up to Shedeur Sanders, because he constantly deals with a lot of criticism but just keeps playing his game,” Nguyen said of the University of Colorado football player.
Part of what has made Liberty so formidable this season has been their team chemistry. This was seen in the last match even after Liberty had mathematically lost overall. Senior captains Nolan Peloquin and Alex Tran took their doubles match into a tiebreak set, which they eventually won 6-4. When this happened, the Liberty team stormed the court, lifting their seniors up.
“When the crowd and team is there to back you and support you, that helps a lot,” Dopps said. “That’s what’s so nice about the team bonding this year – you get the energy and empowerment.”
Tran attributed his win to the culture that the captains have built throughout the year.
“I’m so proud of the support. No matter how many matches we’re down or if you’ve already lost, everyone still shows up to the last match if they can, just to make sure their teammates are taken care of,” Tran said.
Even after the narrow overall loss, Liberty has a lot of optimism as they go forward into the post-season.
“We’ll play Lindbergh soon to decide the number of slots we get, and then it’s just about picking our best players and sending them to go do their best,” Peloquin said.
Di, who will most likely play doubles in the postseason with Karnes, has lofty goals.
“I just want to do better in KingCo than we’ve every done,” Di said.
Dopps was extremely complementary of her teams’ success this season and is ready to watch them challenge deep into the postseason.
“We’ve had an awesome season so far with a good team and built strong players. We’re gonna reach high, go for the moon, and see what we can come down with,” Dopps said.
Patriot sophomore Alex Karnes concentrates on his form as he prepares for a volley. Photo taken by Alexis Phung
