Glen A. Wilson’s girls’ tennis competed in league finals at the Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in South El Monte on Oct. 26 and 27.
Singles players Emily Ing (11), Victoria Lin (10) and Chloe Wu (12) won first, second and third respectively at the competition. Starting Nov. 2, Ing and Lin will be heading on to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs!
Looking back on the match, Ing shares what the victory meant to her and how much time she has dedicated to the achievement.
“I felt ecstatic when I finally won the league finals, and it was really fun playing against everyone,” Ing said. “My passion began sometime in elementary school, [and] what has led me to where I am today in tennis is the consistent hard work I have put into practices all of these years.”
Furthermore, Lin, who placed second, displayed unrelenting determination when she played against her opponent for nearly four hours!
“I knew this matchup was going to be tough to beat, but I [was confident going in as I] won against her the last time we played,” Lin said. “I really wanted to win since it would result in Wilson singles taking home first, second and third place. We did eventually have to go to a third set, but I was so determined to win that I never gave up no matter how tired or frustrated I was.”
In addition, Lin expresses how second place was a position she fought extremely hard for.
“It felt amazing to place second,” Lin said. “I knew going in that I was not going to get first place since Emily Ing, our best player at Wilson, is just too good. To me, second place was basically as good as it could get. I also really felt like I put in the work to get to that point so I was very proud to have accomplished that title in the end.”
Perhaps the most exciting event was when Ing and Lin had no one left to go up against except each other. Head coach Martin Marquez commented on this engaging moment when the two Wilson singles players competed for the number one spot.
“It was tense, like watching a movie,” Marquez said. “Witnessing their accomplishments is legendary as a coach. Our girls are tennis pros and play with their entire hearts.”
Both league finalists are looking forward to the competition in the CIF playoffs and will have the entire Wildcat family supporting them along the way. As Coach Marquez would say, go Wildcats Nation!
