Although they fell short of a District title, the girl’s tennis team ended the season with a respectable record of 7-8, despite the loss of several seniors last year. Overall however, the program has improved significantly from previous years, advancing their level of competitiveness.

“I think the team did much better this year than last year because our coach actually worked on improving our weak spots,” senior Neha Sohail said.

The team also had to juggle the change in leadership, as Hassan Mims took over as head coach.

“I know a few of us were unsure at first going into this season, we all loved Mr. Oundee and we knew the program would be run completely differently than what we were used to,” junior Bonne Clark said, “but, I think we improved from Coach Mims’ own competitive nature– he pushed us to win and be the best players we could.”

Often, the difficulty and finesse required by the game of tennis is overlooked and under-appreciated by spectators. The majority of practice time was designated to increasing players’ overall endurance level throughout harder conditioning and running more drills. Time and effort was also dedicated to addressing first-year Head Coach, Hassan Mims’ biggest concern, the consistency level of shots.

As the season comes to a close, the team will be losing several seniors, such as Sohail and senior Lisbeth Espinoza. Despite the loss of players, the team remains confident and hopeful for future seasons, with the addition of new and promising talent. As the season comes to a close, they have identified areas of focus for next year, and have set the bar high for themselves going into next spring.

“I think our main goal for next year is a strong winning record and just to have a lots of fun. I love tennis, and I don’t want it to be all about the competition, it should be fun too,” Clark said.