Girls’ Tennis Recap

This year the Hickman tennis team had a very successful season. Under the direction of new head coach Jaime Vargas, the team established a program that helped their large amount of younger players, that were new to the game, thrive and develop, as well as creating an extremely positive team atmosphere that led them to both victory and a deeper love for the sport. Senior captain Lili Pangborn held the team morale as a major impact on their performance.

“I think one of our strengths was definitely team moral,” Pangborn said. “We did better this year than we have in the past and I think that played a big part.”

In accordance with Pangborn was her long-time fellow teammate and fellow team captain senior Rebecca Shyu.

“Although our team was mostly beginners, he made sure that we were improving and we ended up with a winning record for the first time in awhile for Hickman,” Shyu said.

With very few varsity veterans on the Kewpie squad, Pangborn and Shyu served as a prominent leaders on the team this fall.

“Being a senior was awesome!” Pangborn said. “Though you really have think about the way you act because people do look up to you.”

“It was crazy, realizing that it was my last year playing for Hickman and that freshmen looked to us for guidance,” Shyu said.

The kewpie Girls Tennis season was overall very successful. With impressive team performances at both the Smith-Cotton Tournament and in districts, finishing the year with a winning record of 8-6, as well as impressive individual performances from like that of Rebecca Shyu’s sectional run.

“I wanted to get back to sectionals like last year, so I worked hard in practice and I was the only Hickman girl to make it to sectionals this year,” Shyu said.

So whether it be the mouse on the bus, impressive victories, or laughs on the court, the kewpie girls tennis team concluded this fall as a success.