Blue Valley North West girls’ tennis team had two doubles groups ranked in the top 10 for 6A tennis. Senior Maryam Wambi and freshman Ella Wang were ranked number one for tennis in the state of Kansas, as of Oct. 4, along with seniors Cammie Peng and Paige Pikus, ranked number 10, both in doubles.
Girls tennis coach Jared Fluis says he is ultimately excited about how things are going, as it is Wambi, Peng and Pikus’s last year competing.
“It’s exciting, we’ve got veterans other than Ella Wang, who is a freshman, but good veteran leaders, so I am excited about how things will possibly turn out,” Fluis said.
As of Oct. 11 at regionals, Wambi, Wang, Peng and Pikus qualified for state in girls’ tennis doubles. Wambi and Wang ranked 1st in doubles, while Peng and Pikus ranked 6th in doubles. Pikus says initially she wasn’t nervous, but when the second match began, the nerves kicked in, and she and Peng ended up losing. Pikus also says that despite her getting upset over the second match, she was still excited that she and Peng qualified for state, considering it was her first year qualifying.
“We definitely should’ve placed higher, because we lost to a team we shouldn’t have lost to. So then we played our next match, and that was to qualify for state, so I knew we could, but we could’ve placed higher,” Pikus said. Pikus also says it was her goal this year to qualify for state. Since she’s reached that goal, she hopes that moving forward, she and Peng can help the team out as much as possible.
Placing first in the state, Wambi and Wang are currently undefeated in doubles against all schools in Kansas, but have lost to some schools in Missouri.
“Me and Ella just go out there and play and try to do our best, and our rankings are reflective of how good we are as players. I just think if I know we can beat this team or play our best, we’ll accomplish what we came here to get,” Wambi said.
Wambi said she noticed Wang when playing competitively and was excited to meet her.
“Our strengths come together really nicely, and I think we’re a good team in that way, so I’ve loved working with her and playing with her,” Wambi said.
Wang, being a freshman, allows Wambi to be a mentor and assist her in becoming a better tennis player, and even when they aren’t playing their best tennis, one of them can keep playing and help the other play better.
As state competition finishes, Fluis says he hopes the seniors get out and enjoy the time that they have together, and ultimately just have fun for their last time competing.
As for the future, Wambi, Peng and Pikus all say they will continue playing tennis strictly as a hobby, but will stay active and continue to improve even after the season ends.
