Perez sisters lead tennis revival at Mariner

Published 3:48 pm Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Ten years ago, the Mariner High School girls tennis team finished its dual meet season with a 7-9 record. It was as close as the team had come to a winning mark since going 9-7 in 1998.

This year, the team — led by sisters Daril and Karla Perez — finally found the right combination of natural talent and hard work to return to the 7-9 record and finish in a tie for fourth place in the Wesco South with a 5-4 league mark.

Although the sisters both began playing tennis as freshman at Mariner, the pair moved with their family to Winthrop last year and attended Liberty Bell High School. After Daril, a senior, begged her father to let them move back to Everett to finish their high school tennis careers, the two re-enrolled at Mariner and proved this season to be serious threats in Wesco South tennis.

Today, the Perez sisters team up to play doubles in the Wesco South tennis tournament at Jackson High School. They hope to become the first Mariner players to advance to the district meert in more than a decade, according to Mariner tennis coach Rich Mar.

As the No. 4 seed in the league tournament, the girls got a bye in the first round.

While Karla typically plays singles, the close duo asked to be paired for doubles in the postseason.

“Me and my sister, I guess you could say that we can read each other’s minds,” said Daril. “We always know that we have the ball with each other … we keep each other calm.”

“I don’t think I’d play (doubles) with anyone else besides (Daril),” added Karla.

The pair is close off the court as well and often cooks Asian-themed meals together in their Everett apartment. Lately the sisters have bonded by spending time shopping for Daril’s prom dress.

Karla, a junior who first picked up a racket as a freshman and has no club training, was 3-9 at No. 1 singles against a talented group of club-trained players from other Wesco South schools.

“Against anyone who hasn’t had consistent club training … she’s probably beaten most of those girls,” said Mar, noting that unlike many area schools that have several club tennis players, Mariner doesn’t have a single girl that belongs to a tennis club.

“She’s one of the most natural tennis players I’ve ever seen,” he added.

University of Washington-bound Daril has played No. 1 doubles all season, usually paired with Ribka Panjaitan or Nykole Mitchell, and finished the regular season with an impressive 10-4 record. She’s also paired with Karla three times this season as preparation for the tournament and the sisters have a 2-1 record.

From Daril’s freshman year, when she played at the absolute bottom of the pack in JV exhibition games, to now, there’s no denying she has improved a great deal.

“With Daril and a lot of the girls at Mariner, it takes until their junior or senior year to be competitive with a lot of these young players from other schools who have been taking lessons,” said Mar. “For Daril, (her improvement) would be a combination of time and effort and the commitment that she has to tennis.”

Despite waiting until high school to pick up the sport and the lack of formal training, the Perez sisters have proved that hard work pays off. They commitment to the game is an inspiration for other girls coming through the Mariner tennis program.

“Daril’s a real leader and Karla is a silent leader who leads by example,” said Mar. “For the team to have girls like that at the top that are role models in the way they play, that’s why we’ve been able to be successful this year.”