The 6-3 loss against Woodson on Thursday, March 25 is not going to hold the Atoms boys tennis team down. Key players Courage Okungbowa, Erik Morton, David Hookey, and Connor Volk strengthen the boy’s tennis team and often lead them to victory.

“We never quit. We always fight for every point in each match, even if we’re losing. However, sometimes we can’t finish off matches. If we can finish off all close matches I think we’ll have a very successful season!” said Morton. Although the season so far has had its ups and downs the boys are ready to come back and work as hard as they can in order to secure more wins.

“Although we lost to Lake Braddock we can still come back and we’re going to be okay,” said head coach Mike Scott.

The team is frustrated about the losses against Lake Braddock and Woodson because the two teams were so evenly matched.

“I’m really disappointed because we had a chance to earn a second place spot in the Patriot District,” said junior Erik Morton. “If we had played better in singles, which we lost, five out of six, I think we would have been able to win since we won two out of three doubles matches,” he said.

Although the team did not win overall, there were individual victories. Freshman Courage Okungbowa won at the number one position of singles 10-1. The number one doubles team comprised of Okungbowa and senior Connor Volk won 10-6 while the number two doubles team of juniors Erik Morton and David Hookey won 10-5.

“We need to be a lot more competitive. A lot of times we lose close matches that we could win if we were more competitive so we need to find a way to win these matches,” said Scott.

Even though individuals have succeeded, the team is always looking for ways to improve.

“We can improve by being more consistent and playing smarter as well as being more fundamentally sound on ground strokes and volleys,” said junior David Hookey. “Our team needs to be relaxed and remember to have fun because that’s usually when we play our best tennis.”

Overall the tennis team is ready to gain more wins and continue to advance together as a team.

“I’d like to see us advance to the Northern Region Tournament and I know the team is fully capable of doing so they just need to continue to be competitive. I want them to continue to compete and win,” said Scott.

The team has plenty of room for improvement on the long term as well.

“Our team is still young so we have a lot of time to improve. Our number one player is a freshman,” said Scott. The tennis team will continue to build toward Districts starting Monday, May 10.