After the women’s tennis season was canceled earlier this year due to COVID-19, senior Angie Zhou decided to join the men’s team. Not only was she the only female on the team, she also ended up placing No. 1 for singles.

          “There were doubts about whether or not we would have a girls’ season, and I’m thinking about graduating early,” Zhou said. “I love playing high school tennis, so I didn’t want to miss out.”

          Zhou’s transition from women’s tennis to men’s tennis was not an easy task as the two sports have different playing styles. Male players typically play with more spin, hit heavier balls and overall, men’s tennis is a faster-paced game.

          “Switching to men’s has been a challenge but in a good way because I really improved from it,” Zhou said.

           As well as adjusting to the new playing style, Zhou found that the social environment was also different on the men’s team. 

          “I’m still friends with all the guys and they are really supportive,” Zhou said. “But it’s not the same as the bond I had with the girls’ team.”

          On Oct. 15, the team wrapped up their season at the state championship in Novi. Zhou won her match against Canton high school but lost her matches against Brother Rice high school and Pioneer high school. The team lost their spot in the finals to Pioneer. 

          “It was really disappointing to lose to Pioneer because we beat them twice over the season,” Zhou said. “But no one wins every match, what matters is that you take that loss as motivation to work harder for the next match.”

          Despite their hard loss at the State Championship, the team had a very successful season winning both the SEC championship and Regional Championship. The players were very grateful to have Zhou on the team this season.

          “Angie was hands-down our best player,” senior captain Nick Grosh said. “[She’s] The reason we contended for a state championship and one of my closest friends.” 

          Zhou’s high school tennis career has come to an end, but she's not done just yet. She plans to continue playing tennis next year at Pomona College in Claremont, California.

          “Even though I was nervous about playing with the boys at first I ended up having so much fun and I’ve grown a lot as a player,” Zhou said. “If you have something you want to do, even if it might be scary, you should go for it.”