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Park View girls win first tennis title
The Park View High School girls' tennis team members have an extra spring in their step this season.And who could blame them?
The Patriot girls reeled off victories in their first 14 matches this spring to capture the first district tennis championship since the Sterling school opened in 1976.
“We are still in shock,” stated eighth-year coach Kathy Hackney, whose team clinched the Dulles District title with a 12-0 district record prior to a rescheduled match against Broad Run on April 29.
“My team has worked so hard and come so far, considering they started learning to play after they tried out for the team,” Hackney continued. “None of them have had lessons, they have just been stuck with me all this time.”
Hackney, who admitted it was “rebuilding, rebuilding, rebuilding” when she took over the program in 2000, feels experience is the difference now.
"In the past, we've had the desire, but we haven't had the experience to be competitive."
Seniors Lisa Huynh and Thuy Nguyen have been with the program for four years. They are both captains.
"We just go outside and hit. That's all we do, all year,” said Nyugen, explaining the team's rise.
Senior captains Krista McManus and Megan Brown, and junior Lindsey Kibler are in their third seasons at Park View.
"We have a lot of the same players from years past, but we've developed as players, gained more experience,” McManus said.
McManus has teamed with Megan Brown, a three-year competitive tennis player who also plays volleyball, to form an undefeated doubles duo this spring.
"I could tell that we were gonna be really good this year,” Brown said. “We're just like a big family."
Hackney realized at the end of last year that this season could be special, with five of their top six players returning.
The Patriots also have been aided by the addition of Anastasia Heimann and Sarah Groves to their lineup.
Heimann is an exchange student from Germany, and Groves joined the tennis squad after playing softball in her first three years at Park View.
An influx of talent, along with experience and determination, has provided Park View with the right formula to break a 32-year title drought.
"These are the most determined kids I've ever coached,” Hackney concluded.
Jason S. Rufner contributed to this story.
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