The girls’ tennis team advanced to the the regional tournament in Riviera Beach on April 7 by placing second at the district tournament held at Astronaut High School on March 31 and April 1.

After a regular season record of 7 wins and 5 losses, the team was seeded as third in the district.

“Getting second was so much more rewarding because we weren’t expected to win,” senior Ashley Pekmezian said. “We were kind of the underdog, but we made it, and being a senior makes it that much more exciting. My last districts definitely turned out well.”

Senior Erna Roth felt similarly about her final year of high school tennis.

“I think that we did pretty great,” Roth said. “It was a great change from last year, and I’m really happy this happened during my senior year. It’ll be a great way to go out of six years of tennis with a bang.”

The girls’ lineup, which featured senior Kelly Johnston, senior Roth, junior Katherine Avrakotos, senior Pekmezian, and eighth-grader Abby M., had unprecedented success at the district tournament, winning a total of 13 matches and losing only 6.

“The West Shore girls had an amazing turnaround at districts,” Coach Rick Boysen said. “On five separate occasions at districts, the girls beat opponents that had beaten them during the regular season. To have two such wins is unusual, and I have never seen a team turn around five matches like the girls were able to do this year. They certainly overachieved.”