Port Washington: a jr. team is six ranked bodies in order
A jr. tennis team has six people on it, with the highest-ranked playing #1 singles against the other team’s best guy, the next-highest-ranked playing #2, and on down the line to #6.
Context
The institution's basic grammar, stated flat: a team is just its ranking made physical, "the highest-ranked playing #1 singles against the other team's best guy... and on down the line to #6." Bodies are slotted by number and matched number-against-number, the whole mammoth 108-match meet an elaborate machine for converting the O.N.A.N.T.A. computer's abstractions into arrayed, competing flesh. Rank isn't a description of the player; it's his position in the lineup, his opponent, his day.