Credit to Payton Johnston

Over the last few years, the girls tennis team has been building an impressive roster with high hopes for the coming season. 

Many returners are looking to make big moves going into the season with the new opportunities to be on the varsity roster. Junior Courtney Epplin was the number one player for the team last season and is working to take her teammates to the state tournament at the end of the season. 

“My teammates always work really hard, in season and during the offseason, and I appreciate all the work they do,” Epplin said. “I would love to see that work pay off and for them to succeed. I think we have a really good team this season and we have all made a lot of improvements since last year.”

The scoring for tennis is unique in such a way that it is difficult to quantify a season record, but nobody made it to state last year. This years season starts on Sept 10 at an away match against Fort Zumwalt North, and the Knights are looking forward to hosting their own tennis matches this year.

However, something is to be said about the desire and hunger that inner team competition does to drive improvement. The underclassmen on the team are moving up through the ranks and showing how tennis is mostly about work ethic and not as much raw talent. Sophomore Shreya Patel is an excellent example of this, having improved vastly over the duration of her freshman season and working hard in the off season to improve and make a higher rank this coming season.

 “I do private sessions at VETTA in the offseason to prepare for next year,” Patel said. “I also go to the outdoor public courts to play tennis with my dad whenever I can.”