Wyatt McConagha ’27.
The Sidwell Girls varsity tennis team hopes to secure another championship title this year, after having won the DC states championship the last four years.
The Sidwell Friends Girls Tennis Team enters the 2025 fall season prepared to defend its position as reigning Independent School League and DCSAA Champions. Coached by Logan West and Shelby Jones, the Quakers hope to build upon last year’s undefeated run and sweep the 2025 DCSAA team tennis championships.
While the team is still expected to be strong due to the level of skill of the returning players, the team will miss the talents of the graduating players. Junior Natalie McIntosh especially valued Daria Ghassemi ’25’s impact on the team. The two players competed in doubles at the state championship. The match was “extra special” for the duo as it was Ghassemi’s last match for Sidwell.
With the loss of the seniors, returning upperclassmen are stepping up to lead the team. “Everybody is stepping up and working extremely hard to make our already strong team stronger,” senior Sophie Haar said.
Haar added that everybody is playing their part in maintaining the culture that the seniors left behind.
“A lot of the girls have been playing tournaments over the summer … to prepare for the season,” she said, adding how the team’s culture is heavily based around effort.
The Sidwell Girls Tennis program’s culture of training out of season has helped the players transition into playing in varsity matches in the past.
“I think if we work the same way we have been working, we should have no trouble defending the title,” McIntosh said.