The girls tennis team is off to a promising start, despite some initial challenges. This past week, the girls tennis team competed at the Troy Doubles Tournament on Saturday and at FHC in a meet against Francis Howell North on Tuesday. At their first meet this season, the Troy Doubles Tournament, they encountered some difficulties. Seniors Mackenzie Jones and her doubles partner Cloie Boyd, in particular, faced challenging opponents there. They finished the tournament with a record of 1-2-0, but are looking forward at what they might accomplish during the season.

“We weren’t really prepared; it was a different environment than what we were practicing in because it was a preseason tournament,” recalls Jones.

They proved to be much better at their next meet against Francis Howell North. The two teams played Tuesday afternoon on FHC’s courts, and our team won the meet with seven matches to FHN’s two. The tennis team was quite spirited during the meet, and the joy and disappointment felt by our team was evident, despite the lack of audible cheering. One could feel the excitement amongst our team as Jones tapped a ball over the net to score a point against FHN. When interviewed, senior Alyssa Smith attributed the team’s well-deserved win against FHN to an intensive practice regimen, and lots of preparation to win during the season even during the summer.

“I’ve been practicing all summer long, we’ve been practicing after school every day since school started, and I also play on weekends,” says Smith.

The girls tennis team is looking to keep improving throughout the season. There is still a long way to go until districts, which are in early to mid-October. Until then, the team will keep competing in their upcoming meets, which includes their next meet on Thursday, September 5 against Liberty High School and the following Monday at Notre Dame.

Going forward, Boyd says that the team is “trying to keep a better mindset of positivity”.

For more information about the girls tennis journey, follow their twitter.