After a long day of tests and lectures at school, most student athletes want to get their matches over with. However on a recent Wednesday afternoon, as lineups against the Fenwick High School girls tennis team was called, the atmosphere of the U-High girls tennis team was anything but worn out.
As each U-High player’s name was called, cheers of support rippled throughout the team. At the center of the cheering were co-captains Xia Nesbitt and Zoe Alphonse. Their voices rise with the rest to support their teammates. After shaking hands with their opponents, Xia and Zoe immediately go into strategizing about their match.
Now seniors, doubles partners Zoe and Xia are also two of three co-captains for the varsity girls tennis team. At the core of their leadership, Zoe and Xia value the connections that their sport can bring, much like the one they fostered. They understand that after long days, tennis can sometimes feel isolating.
“Tennis can feel very solitary if you let it, but just cheering each other on, like telling your girl, ‘Yeah, you got it’, getting loud,” Zoe said. “That’s always something that we appreciate, just supporting one another because we all know it’s hot, it’s late, sometimes we are ready to go home because we have homework.”
Xia and Zoe have been playing tennis throughout their lives, but their doubles partnership began something they tried their sophomore year. It quickly blossomed into a strong, dynamic bond. Zoe’s fiery energy and Xia’s level-headedness balance each other out. They are also drawn together by similar strategic work ethics on the court.
“I remember we went to conference together in sophomore year, our first year playing together. And during all of the vague, high-pressure moments, I was the cool one, and she had that fire and had that power,” Xia said. “I can’t name a specific instance, but we started to click early and sort of realized that it’s our personalities together that make us such a great team, and our ability to understand each other has only grown since that initial realization.”
Their balance of sportsmanship and seriousness sets the tone for the rest of the team. For their co-captain, senior Sara Park, their enthusiastic approach to tennis shows how an individually competitive sport still has room for connection.
“I feel like the stigma is that everyone else is each other’s competition to be placed better on the team. It is never like that with them, they’ve always been so fun,” Sara said. “Like, yeah, there’s a lot of competition, but they always know when to be themselves and when to put their competition faces on.”
Xia and Zoe’s emphasis on support and encouragement extends beyond just cheering during matches. It’s also about creating a team where everyone has a voice. Zoe said this approach has shaped this year’s team dynamic.
“I think this year, more than any year, we’ve done a great job at making sure that the people on the team, not just the captains, have a say on what’s going on,” Zoe said. “I think that it’s been a really great time to see even freshmen, all the grades really, get involved and have a voice on the team… We’re kind of all one unit, one dream, and that’s really nice.”
