ARLINGTON — Junior Livia Markwart has had a tremendous impact on the Arlington High School girls tennis team.

She and two other new additions, sisters freshman Layla and senior Aleida Garduno-Cravioto, have put Arlington at the top of the Wesco 3A North standings.

The three have more experience than their teammates because of the lack of indoor tennis facilities in the area, coach Jill Hatfield said. Markwart is an exchange student from Berlin, Germany, while the Garduno-Cravioto sisters transferred from Mexico.

“They are fabulous,” Hatfield said.

The three qualified for the district tournament, along with senior Lily Bynum — the most ever for their coach. Markwart placed first in the tournament May 11, defeating formally undefeated Marina Ciferri of Marysville Getchell. As a result, she is the Arlington Times-Marysville Globe Athlete of the Week.

“I think Livia stepped up her game at the right time,” Hatfield said.

Markwart said she is enjoying AHS.

“I really like it here,” she said, adding she is sad to leave in four weeks. “I’m going to miss the team a lot, the coach and the U.S. in general.”

She hopes to come back to the U.S. and get a scholarship to play college tennis. She wants to study law or engineering.

When it comes to tennis, for Markwart it all boils down to strategy. Ciferri beat her a week earlier.

“She played really smart in the first match,” Markwart said.

Markwart rethought her strategy and played with more confidence and consistency after that.

“Last time I played her, I lost because I was unhappy with my match,” Markwart said. “I got really frustrated easily because I could’ve beaten her.”

Markwart said she utilized her backhand more and made Ciferri move around the court in the second game. She defeated Ciferri 6-1 and and then 6-2 in the finale.

“You never know what could happen in a tournament,” Hatfield said. “However, I knew if Livia played well, she could be successful.”

Markwart has been playing for eight years, and the skills she has acquired playing tournaments for tennis clubs and practicing with adults has put her above most high school competitions.

“I just practice with older people,” she said, adding she was at the tennis club every day in Germany. “It’s different. They have a totally different strategy. They think more.”

She is excited for the playoffs but more so than winning or losing she just wants to have fun, Markwart said.

“I just want to have some great experience on the court,” she said. “I want some fun matches that I’ll never forget.”

Though there is lots of pressure that comes with tennis, “you can still play your own game and be yourself,” Markwart said

“I feel with tennis, it’s an individual sport,” she said. “When I’m on the court it makes me forget about everything around me.”

Editor’s note: Ciferri avenged her loss to Markwart late this week to advance to state.