The first state competition I have been on the field for was the state playoffs for football my sophomore year. However, the first state competition I actually participated in was also my sophomore year, playing in the team state tennis tournament.

Before we could make the trip to Des Moines, we had to qualify for state first. I was really nervous because I was told every match counts. I was also a little uneasy about the fact that we were missing one of our varsity players, Konrad. We were matched up with Spirit Lake and Le Mars, two sturdy teams. However, I was told by Aaron that we were much better than both teams. This really helped me relax and helped me play much better. We ended up defeating both teams and did not lose a single match. We had qualified for state.

We arrived at the state meet on a brisk, beautiful morning. We began our warm ups alongside the number one team in the state. We had received the fourth seed and were set to play the Boone Toreadors. Although we were outmatched in many ways, we were all just happy to be participating. Our sole loss of the season was to Boone, who won eight to one. We all had similar thoughts as to how this match would play out. As matches began, it appeared that things would be the same as they were in the regular season. Four of the six singles players lost their first set, including myself. Things weren’t looking too good for the Gaels.

I distinctly remember missing an easy volley to start the second set. I thought to myself, why are you letting your team down? You’re better than this. I won five straight games and ended up winning the set 6-3. All of a sudden I was back in the match. I looked around at the scoreboards of other matches and was astonished to see that other people were also making incredible comebacks. That’s when it hit me. We have a very good shot at winning this meet. As that started to sink in, so did the nerves. I played my heart out in the final set, hitting winners left and right, but he wasn’t just gonna lay down for me. He put up a great fight, but in the end, I was the victor. I had earned a much needed singles point for my team. It was an accomplishment I will never forget.

We entered doubles play with nothing but confidence that we were going to pull off an upset. Our team had earned four singles victories, four more than what we earned only weeks prior. We only needed one more victory to seal the deal, and we were set up perfectly to do it. Before a meet starts, coaches are asked to submit their doubles pairings and at which position they will be playing, either number one, two or three. It just so happened that Coach Short entered the perfect doubles pairing to win the final match needed. Boone had selected their number four seed and five seed to play second seed doubles. We had chosen our number one and six for that same position, a much better team. They won their match, we won the meet. The Gaels had defeated the mighty Boone Toreadors.

Playing alongside the guys on the tennis team brought out the best in me, not only as a competitor, but as a person. You often hear people say, never underestimate your opponent, but what I believe is more important is to never underestimate yourself.