The Girls Varsity Tennis team started their preseason with a match against the Pasadena Bulldogs on Sept. 1. Despite a slow start, the Lady Rams pulled through with a 14-4 victory.
This was the first Varsity match for many of the tennis players as eight new members moved up after more than half of the former team graduated last year. Though they felt nervous, the players were able to adapt well to the new level of play and take a commanding victory.
The team also won 14-4 against the San Gabriel Matadors on Sept. 3. The team secured an early lead with strong doubles and singles performances. With two wins already under their belt, the team is hoping the early preseason success will set a nice tone for the rest of the season.
The early preseason win may be attributed to the extra work the team put in during the off season. Coach Nate Slaymaker trained the girls harder than he did last year, stressing footwork, serving and consistency.
“I believe this year’s preparation is a lot different from last year’s,” Sophomore Katherine Wu said. “Coach Slaymaker does more training to build up our endurance and agility and pushes us to do better, which I think the whole team appreciates.”
Their training includes mile runs and cross court return drills with a strong emphasis on aggressive net plays. In addition, some players joined a junior tennis team over the summer, also coached by Slaymaker. The team hopes that the extra practice will help it score better than last year’s 8-9 season and reach its main goal: a spot in C.I.F.
“We compete in one of the toughest high school tennis leagues in Southern California,” Coach Slaymaker said. “I expect that our team will compete in the C.I.F. playoffs.”
Despite the early wins, the team is still relatively inexperienced. With the tennis season starting right after summer break, the team gets less time to adjust.
“The dynamics of playing Varsity and JV are very different,” Senior Sandra Ngo said. “I think it’ll take a bit of time for those who recently transitioned from JV to Varsity to grow accustomed to this.”
As the season progresses, the team is starting to compete as a group. With this new team composition, the players and coach are curious to see how the team will look at the start of the regular season.
“We only have four returning members on Varsity from last year’s team,” Slaymaker said. “I am excited to see how all the new players will work together and meld into a team.”
Not only is the team optimistic about the upcoming season, but it also looks as if it is in good hands for the future.
“We have Varsity players of all grade levels,” Ngo said. “I think this is going to help not only our team this year, but those in later years too.”