After years of talk, Shalhevet finally entered the world of competitive tennis last night with a decisive win over New Roads School in Santa Monica.

Led by sophomore Max Lipner, who won his singles contest 3 – 0, and the doubles team of sophomore Elliot Sassover and freshman Matthew Denitz, also 3 – 0, the team is coached by Avi Meyerson and has five more matches schedules.

Ranging from people who have never touched a racket in their lives before to more experienced players, the tennis team and its players express much hope for the season.

“We hope to improve as much as we can,” said Max, who recently qualified for the Israeli Maccabi tennis team, where he hopes to play this summer. “Every great team must start somewhere.”

Although  not participating in a league as of now, the Firehawks tennis players have hope to join an official league next year.

Some of the more inexperienced players are using the team as an opportunity to actively participate in Shalhevet sports.

Senior Micha Zana has never played tennis before.

“I never really got into sports at Shalhevet, which is something that I wanted to do,” said Micha. “Now, as a senior, I see this tennis team as a great opportunity for me.”

Here are the scores from yesterday’s match with New Roads:

Singles:

Max Lipner: 3-0

Adam Wannon: 2-1

Michael Suriel: 1-2

Doubles:

Elliot Sassover and Matthew Denitz: 3-0

Nathaniel Kukurudz and Amiad David: 2-1

Adir Hassid, Micha Zana, and David Grinberg:  0-3