Girls’ Tennis serves into a new season
The varsity and junior varsity girls’ tennis teams are still thriving even after the pandemic shut down most sports. The tennis players were able to return to their full season at the start of the year because tennis is a low contact sport which abides by safety regulations.
Elizabeth Benson, senior, is excited to return to a full season this year, especially since it is her last year playing. “This year we are able to do a lot more during practice than last year. We are allowed to have our regular full length practices, including conditioning, hitting and practice matches, as opposed to last year where we had to have the team split into two pods and only allowed to touch our own tennis balls, which slowed down our matches,” Benson said.
Benson has been playing tennis for 11 years now and has not had any regrets since she started. “Growing up, I wasn’t very competitive so tennis gave me the flexibility to learn and play for fun. As I got more into the sport, I fell in love with tennis and overtime became more competitive,” Benson said. When Benson is in a match, she always tries to stay positive even when that seems impossible. “For me tennis is 49 percent mental and 51 percent skill. When my partner and I are losing, it is hard to stay confident in our tennis abilities,” Benson said.
Edyn Stepler, senior, who also plays for the varsity team, has enjoyed playing tennis since sixth grade. “I actually just quit competitive dance after fifth grade and wanted to pick up another sport that didn’t deteriorate my mental health, and I found tennis,” Stepler said.
While in a match, team camaraderie can make a difference between winning and losing. “Throughout the entire match, I make sure to cheer on my teammates while also thinking of strategies against the other school,” Stepler said. While this season is going great so far, Stepler is especially excited for a doubles competition at the end of the season. “We’ll put together a mini tournament. This is a great way for everyone to gain new experience during the off-season!” she said.
As a relatively new member of the team, Karli Bartlett, sophomore, plays tennis for the junior varsity team. Bartlett discovered her interest in tennis two and a half years ago while playing non-competitively with some friends. One of Bartlett’s most enjoyable parts about a match is the preparation with her partner. “Usually before we start our actual match, we work with the other players that we’re going against, and by doing that we can figure out they’re weaknesses. So then my doubles partner and I would try to figure out what shots to hit so that we could have a better outcome,” Bartlett said.
“Our team as a whole is very academic focused so I think that helps us have fun when we come to practice because it’s our only break from school… Overall I feel like our coach, coach Mulligan, tries hard to keep team moral strong,” Benson said.
