Hibachi, Ivy League Championships, and memories to last forever. The Hackley Girls Varsity Tennis team had a season to remember. In a thriller tennis faceoff on Thursday, October 28th, the Varsity Girls Tennis team clinched the Ivy League Championship in a two-day meet against Poly Prep. The win capped off the team’s undefeated season.

The match continued over two days because it was too dark to finish on Wednesday, leaving the celebrations for Thursday. After an intense first outing against Poly, the 1st singles and 1st doubles were left to play on the second day. Stress and excitement emanated from the crowd as first singles Samantha Rainero fought out in a nailbiter to a loss and first doubles team Maya Miller and Remi Myers battled to victory. HGVT ultimately won three matches and lost two, and therefore winning Ivy’s.

The team continued on with their successful season going into the NYSAIS championship, where double teams Sami Rowbottom and Bella Barierra made it to the quarterfinals, and team Maya Miller and Remi Myers won the doubles tournament!

Representing Hackley Singles in NYSAIS, sisters Grace and Samantha Rainero fought to successful records. Grace made it to the quarterfinals where she lost to the future tournament champion, and Samantha came runner up in the tournament.

Overall, this capped off a very successful season!

“We didn’t have a normal season last year, so we wanted to make it count for this season,” Samantha Rainero said.

The support surrounding the tennis team was also evident, even with the difficulty of distractions from the fans. Sam said she doesn’t mind the presence of fans, and she even feels that she plays better with them in attendance. The Ivy’s finals hosted by Hackley gathered a large crowd, which got the team even more fired up and helped bring back the win.

The unique success this year is not the only thing that has separated this team’s specific culture from past Hackley Girls Varsity tennis teams.

With bonding experiences such as hibachi – where the tennis team went to eat sometimes after their wins – or color wars where the team was split in half during practices and competed against one another, the team was able to strengthen their relationships with each other and bring that energy onto the tennis court.

Through the outstanding traditions and success, the team completed a season to remember.