With a 13-2 season record, there was not a single doubt in the boys qualifying for state.

In the post-season, if a team wins five of their singles matches, the match is over, and that team wins; Doubles are only played if there isn’t a sweep. While West beat the J-hawks 8-1 on April 12, the Trojans remained focused throughout their singles matches and secured the winning sweep.

As the season comes closer to the end, with only the Individual State May 27-28 for doubles qualifier Derek Hua ’25 and Anthony Medina ’25, Ishan Harwani ’25 and Junze Sun ’25, and Pierce Hribar ’28 in singles, then Team State June 3, the seniors begin wrapping up their final season.

Sun, who is a four-year varisty tennis player, notes that the West High Tennis team really emphasizes one team as opposed to individualism.

“It is kind of cliche, but [I learned] how to be part of a team, [especially] for our team, specifically. Tennis is like a really individualistic sport, but supporting each other is pretty much like how our team succeeds,” Sun said. “This reflects in our doubles playing, and we’re a doubles-centric tennis team. We have a chemistry between all of our players; It’s completely unparalleled, because we’re there just for each other.”

Harwani is also a four-year varsity tennis player, and echos Sun in West’s unique team environment.

“[The upper classmen] teach you things differently; when you’re a freshman, they’ll bully you a little bit, but it’s they do out of love, so you become a better person,” Harwani said. “From them, you learn and you grow to be more mentally stable because tennis is a very mental sport.”

As doubles partners, Sun and Harwani have aspirations to make it far into the individuals tournament. Both credited their previous teammates for reaching this milestone; with trusted head coach Marshal Moellers and new assistant coach Olivia Weiss, the duo believes that the regular season trained them well.

“We want to thank our coaches, Moellers, who’s been the head coach for four years, and then this year, Olivia, who’s been the assistant coach. Those two together really improve our tennis game, especially this year since we’ve been doing a lot more drills,” Harwani said.

With four seasons of good memories, Sun recalls his sophomore state title fondly.

“The main highlight came my sophomore year [at state]. The tournament was rained out, and we had to go indoors for the final against Waukee Northwest. It worked out pretty well for us, because we’re better indoors,” Sun said. “In that close space without extra spectators, is just team against team. “We were able to secure a good amount of wins, so that as long as we won a singles doubles match, which fortunately I got to play, and winning, we secured the state championship.

Catch Harwani and Sun playing at the HTRC tennis courts May 27 for the first round of Individuals State.