In celebration of Foothill Technology High School’s (Foothill Tech) graduating seniors on the girls tennis team, the Dragons carried out their long-standing tradition of senior night, where the graduating class was praised with gifts, flowers and love from their teammates and supporters. Violet Polley ‘26, Aarna Khanavkar ‘26, Saanvi Joshi ‘26 and Diana Hixon ‘26 were all celebrated for their time with the team.
The emotional aspect of senior night affects the way some players feel throughout their games.
“I’m really going to miss them and I’m trying my best for them,” Britney Ruiz ‘28 said.
Foothill Tech honored its seniors on Oct. 9 with a tie-breaker victory over St. Bonaventure High School (Bonnie) at the Ventura College tennis courts. Foothill Tech dominated on the singles side of the match, where they were able to capture all nine points. However, Bonnie was able to produce on the doubles side of the match, where they won nine points as well. Foothill Tech squeezed its way to victory with more games won.
Joshi, one of the players being celebrated, won all three of her singles sets in all but one, in which she did not allow her opponent to score a single point.
“Saanvi is always there, and she’s … a good coach, too. She’s taught me everything that I know,” Ruiz said.
Jaylene Aguirre ‘28 and Bari Davis ‘28 won each of their three respective sets. Similar to Joshi, Aguirre dominated and allowed only one game to slip. In Davis’ final set, she escaped with a victory in a tie-breaker game.
Polley and Khanavkar, a senior duo, felt the pressure from the event.
“I think both of us have been playing pretty good today. I just think the pressure from senior night is getting us a little bit anxious, but I think overall we have been playing really well together as a duo,” Polley said.
“We have three of the Bonnie coaches staring at us, then our coaches, all the girls on both teams and the parents,” Khanavkar said.
Over their years of tennis experience, support from the seniors’ teammates has impacted their experience.
“I think that, on this team, my teammates are always so positive and they’re always here for me. Even if we take a big loss, that’s okay. They’re so supportive and practices and matches are always fun,” Polley said.
Despite not winning any doubles sets, the atmosphere of senior night and the team’s celebrations made the senior night victory even sweeter for the Dragons.
