Girls varsity tennis faced Redwood on Oct. 18 to close out the last of their league matches.
Unfortunately, Redwood took 5 matches to Branson’s 2. However, all doubles and singles players fought hard for each set. Redwood ended up taking all three doubles matches and two singles matches, but Branson won their top two singles lines.
Katie Warrin ‘26, who played No. 1 singles, felt her team did well overall, despite the loss, and ended their league season on a high note.
“We fell a little short this time, but I know that we will bounce back,” she said.
Warrin faced Redwood’s Jordan Morrato. Audrey Gilmor ‘25, playing No. 2 singles, faced Julia Povio. Both Gilmor and Warrin battled hard against their opponents and kept their composure to put some points for Branson on the scoreboard.
The Bulls also had some hard competition in their doubles lines, with Karis Crabill ‘25 and Talia Schneiter ‘27 playing No. 2 doubles and Alexandra Sebastiani ‘26 and Laila Elkhoury ‘24 at No. 3.
Crabill and Schneiter faced Redwood’s Livia Clompis and Lindsay Reed. Schneiter was quick on the court and Crabill was able to keep her vollies out of her opponents’ reach.
Meanwhile, Sebastiani and Elkhoury faced Redwood’s third-ranked doubles pair. Branson managed to keep the ball deep which pushed their opponents back and opened up an opportunity to volley.
Over on the No. 2 singles court, Gilmor had long back-and-forth rallies with Povio, both hitting deep corner balls and moving with speed and agility. Gilmor took 3 games to Povio’s 4, but kept her consistency and good form against Povio’s smart shots.
After an hour of playing, after most matches had finished, Gilmor was leading 6-5 in the first set. Both players insisted on victory and eventually were tied 6-6 for a set tiebreak. In a tiebreaker, players alternate who is serving, which Gilmor used as an opportunity to keep her serves aggressive. Keeping her composure, Gilmor ran back and forth across the court to defend against Povio’s long and wide shots. Ultimately, Gilmor prevailed and won the tiebreaker 7-4.
As they headed into the second set, Gilmor began with a lead of 2-1. Povio kept Gilmor on her toes, but Gilmor used strategy to beat her opponent mentally. At the start of the second set, Povio began to miss some serves and send some shots long. This gave Gilmor the upperhand, and she used it to keep herself on the offense. The second set ended with Gilmor’s victory, leaving her with a final score of 6-4.
Later in the evening, Warrin began her No. 1 singles match against Jordan Marotto. Katie stayed in the game despite Jordan’s hard swings and offensive playing. Katie was leading 3-2 in the first set, but after a couple changeovers, Marotto was leading 4-3. After many long rallies, Warrin tied it up to 4-4.
By this point, most matches had finished with only Gilmor and Warrin left to decide the outcome of the Bull’s final sets. Warrin received some quick and well placed serves from Marotto. However, after a double fault from Marotto and consistent swings from Warrin, the score was up to 5-4 with Warrin in the lead.
The first set score was tied 6-6, but after her opponent forfeited, Warrin took the match. According to Warrin, Marotto said she was feeling unwell, as she had begun to “see stars” in the middle of their match.
Shortly after her win, Warrin expressed her excitement about going into the match.
“I was really excited to play her and it sucks that she wasn’t feeling well and had to forfeit,” she said.
As the Bulls finished off their last game in the league, Warrin hoped that this game was good preparation for the tougher competition they would soon face in their upcoming matches of the postseason.
Despite their tough loss, the Bulls looked forward to their matches in the following weeks as they headed into the final part of postseason play.
