The boy’s tennis team ended the season with team sectionals on May 18th.  The Knights faced Hannibal in their first match and won 5-3.  By beating Hannibal, they were ranked in the top eight in the state.  However, the team lost 3-5 to Parkway Central and did not qualify for state.

Senior Nick Cole said, “I wish the weather would have been a little better.  The rain sucked.”

But, when reflecting on their season as a whole, the boys expressed mainly positive feelings.  Robbie Nicolli, a varsity tennis player for four years, said, “We’ve all dedicated a lot of time to playing as much as possible and we’ve all worked on our games trying to improve.  And all our hard work has payed off by finishing in the top eight in the state for our class.”

Although the players focused on improving their individual weaknesses, they weren’t doing it for just themselves.  Tyler Brown said, “The team really came together after we shoveled snow off the tennis courts together.  That was when we stopped playing for ourselves and started playing for the name on front.”

In addition to playing tennis, the team spent time together hanging out and having fun.  Joel Payne said, “My favorite part of the season was the annual pre-holt tournament treasure meal feast.”

Brown also described the feast, “After the Holt tournament the team went to Long John Silvers and ate two entire treasure meals.  Some guy in front of us in line gave us $20 bucks for looking like ‘respectable, young men’.”

Although the team as a whole is not going to state together, junior Matt Dunn and senior Robbie Nicolli qualified to go to state as individuals.  Nicolli said, “I’ve mainly worked on staying mentally strong during matches and staying focused, but I’ve also worked on improving my backhand in order to be more aggressive from that side.  I feel confident that I can play really well and win more matches than I have in the past years in state.”

Finally, as advice to next year’s team, Cole said, “Gentlemen, never stop improving and never be satisfied.”