After beating the Todorovich sisters from Villa Duchesne at Districts, seniors Emily Koo and Yvonne Shannon advanced to the State Tournament in doubles tennis where they won first place.
“I feel like our district had a lot of the hardest teams,” Koo said. “I think we’ve competed against the hardest people we will see.”
Koo and Shannon have been playing together for three years, but this is the first time they have been to State together.
“I think it’s more fun that we’re both able to go because if we went as singles players, we would have to compete against each other,” Koo said. “Since we’re doubles partners, we can feed off each others energies.”
However, this is not Shannon’s first time going to state. She has been to State in singles twice before.
“I went my sophomore year and junior year, so I kind of know what to expect, but this is the first time I was able to go with a teammate,” Shannon said.
Besides having fun together, they have broken not one, but two school records this season. They had a 23-2 doubles record this season and are 61-5 as doubles partners over the last three years.
“One advantage we have is that we’re probably the strongest team out of our district,” Shannon said.
One reason that they are both so good at tennis is because they have been playing since they were kids
“I’ve been playing for twelve years. I started playing when I was living in Las Vegas, Nevada,” Shannon said. “My dad wanted me to play for so long and I never wanted to play. Then, I beat him in Wii tennis and that’s how it all started.”
“I haven’t been playing for as long, but I played since I was nine,” Koo said. “My mom told me that I had to do at least one sport that I wanted to stick to, but I never found a sport I wanted to stick to. Then, I started tennis and I liked it so I kept doing it.”
Another reason for their success is the support and friendship of their coaches and teammates.
“When you play competitive tennis, you don’t really have a team, so being on the school team is different from playing by yourself,” Shannon said. “Everyone’s friends and everyone is cheering for you and that’s a good feeling.”
This was the first time any student from Parkway North won a State title in tennis.
