Senior Santi Sierra and junior Jonathan Traub dominated in senior Priscila Hill’s pickleball tournament, securing the championship with a decisive victory in the final round at the Warren Field Tennis Courts.
The tournament consisted of 12 two-player teams, who each played one game in the first round. The six winners of those games then played each other in the second round. After cruising through the first two rounds, Sierra and Traub advanced to a three-way final, where they quickly set the tone. They claimed the $110 pot prize with back-to-back 7-2 wins in the last two games of the tournament.
The final two games were tense, with all teams showing clear skill. Long, back-and-forth rallies kept each point alive as the rest of the teams lit up the court with their phone flashlights. After the tournament, Sierra said the win felt especially meaningful, given his uncertainty at the start.
“I played tennis before. I really like these racket sports. But I’ve never played with [Traub], so there were a lot of doubts. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to do it. We’re super happy to have come here and to have done what we wanted to do,” Sierra said.
Hill organized the tournament as part of a project in her Experiential Project-based Innovative Capstone (EPIC) English class. She decided to base her project around physical activity because she said she learned that sports bring people together.
“I’m trying to learn how different kinds of games can bring people together and create a sense of community,” Hill said. “So for a final project, I wanted to find something that would bring all kinds of different people together and combine everything that I found that works really well for connecting people in games, like competition, variation in the people that are playing and physical activity.”
Despite having little time to prepare for the tournament, Sierra said he and Traub came up with multiple ways to give themselves the best chance of winning.
“Our preparation was very limited because we found out about this quite recently. But we talked about the type of attacks we wanted to run. We knew the players we were going to go up against, so we tried to see how they would play,” Sierra said. “I didn’t know the rules of the game, so I had to learn them.”
Senior Jacqueline Mahon, a finalist, said she came to the pickleball competition to have fun and was surprised to make it to the finals.
“It felt amazing. Going into it, I didn’t really think we had a chance, but it’s an amazing feeling that we made it. As beginners, it shows our strength in this sport that we made it to the finals. We put our best effort, and that’s all that matters, even though we lost,” Mahon said.
Although the tournament started at around 7:30 p.m. on a Friday night, dozens of participants still showed up. Hill said she was not expecting that many people to come.
“I think we had 24 people and five or so fans, so around 30 people came. I was expecting just a couple of my friends because it was not meant to be anything crazy, but I was definitely surprised by the turnout. It’s really fun to see everyone here and helping out,” Hill said.
For Sierra, the competition meant more than just winning; it was also a chance to connect with others.
“I didn’t really know too many of the people that were here, and it was fun to meet them,” Sierra said. “Everybody was super positive and just wanted to have a good time. It was fun to be in that environment and meet these people.”
