Girls Tennis: Cougars Send Off Seniors with Shutout

Though the Oakton High girls tennis team shut out Centreville High in its last home game of the season, tears fell before the match as the Cougars honored its four seniors in a pregame ceremony.

"I wanted to plug my ears and pretend it wasn't happening," said Alina Suyama, the Cougars' No. 2 player who will continue her tennis career at Mary Washington University. "I love every single person on the team ... It's really tough moving away from what I've been doing for the past four years. Spring has always been the best part of the school year for me."

The team decorated the courts in chalk to show their love for seniors Suyama, Demi Chang, Lucia Colombi and Illiana Rand-Diaz.

The Cougars carried the positivity of the pregame festivities into the match, as they defeated the Wildcats 9-0.

But Tuesday's win was just icing on the cake after a high school career the four seniors, three of whom are four-year varsity players, will look back on fondly.

"A lot of my favorite memories are from practice. I can't tell you the number of times we've ended up laying on the ground just laughing," Suyama said. "There are a lot of memories and they're all just good."

As a first-year coach, Lauren Patrizi feels a special attachment to not just the seniors but to each person on the team.

"They're just a great group of girls, and the seniors were certainly a big part of that," Patrizi said. "I definitely hope they come back and visit, and we'll be sure to bother them in their absence, too."

Tuesday's results:

• 1s Katie Clark vs. Jamie Schoshinski, 10-0
• 2s Alina Suyama vs. Sarah Alberstein, 10-1
• 3s Varsha Bhargava vs. Sapna Rao, 10-1
• 4s Annalise Capalbo vs. Jessica Jassal, 10-3
• 5s Taleen Avedisian vs. Rebekah Lee, 10-2
• 6s Lily Moens vs. Esther Yoon, 10-1
• 1d Clark/Suyama vs. Schoshinski/Yoon, 6-0
• 2d Avedisian/Capalbo vs. Rao/Jassal, 6-0
• 3d Demi Chang/Lucia Colombi vs. Tanya Kumar/Sierra Dinomer, 6-1