The girls varsity tennis team wraps up a successful season with a 9-7 recod, making it to the quarterfinals.
Early in the season, the team faced a strong opponent in Choate Rosemary Hall on Wednesday, April 18, and they were unable to come away with a victory, losing 6-3. This was a winnable match according to Head Coach Ronald Garcia, but the problem was with doubles. The team was able to split singles, both teams winning three matches, but the Wyverns got swept in doubles, losing all three matches.
That is why Coach Garcia is putting a lot of emphasis on doubles in practice. “We have to volley better, and simply be better,” he said.
Unfortunately, the work the team put in didn’t pay off immediately, as they faced the tough Hopkins School on Monday, April 23. Hopkins won this matchup 9-0. Despite this loss, Coach Garcia remained optimistic as he was aware that Hopkins is a very good team, and they were favored to win New Englands this year.
The girls tennis team was soon able to string together some consistent matches, winning their next three matches by large margins. On Wednesday, April 25, KO faced Ethel Walker School where they were able to come out with a strong 7-2 win.
Just two days later on Friday, April 27, the Wyverns faced The Gunnery School where they had a dominating win with a score of 9-0. Then on Wednesday, May 2, the wyverns were able to keep their win streak alive, beating Miss Porter’s School by an impressive margin of 8-1. Coach Garcia was happy with their team wins. “They were good wins. We played pretty well,” he said.
Unfortunately, Westminster School defeated the Wyverns on Thursday, May 3, with a score of 8-1. The wyverns then faced Loomis Chaffee School the following Monday where they lost 8-1. The Wyverns did not let these few losses stop them though, as they bounced back with a dominating win over Cheshire Academy on Wednesday, May 9, where they won with an astounding score of 9-0. The Wyverns were then able to squeak away with a victory against Williston Northampton School on Thursday, May 10, where they edged the opposition out with a score of 4-3.
On Saturday, May 12, the girls tennis team took part in the Coe de Villafranca Tournament where they finished tied for fourth place out of eight teams. At season’s end, the team made it to quarterfinals and beat Berkshire 5-2. Unfortunately, they got knocked out in the semis against Westminster, losing 5-2.
Even though the Wyverns have a winning record, they view this as a rebuilding year. The team lost a lot of crucial players from last year, so the emphasis of this season was to improve and get better with every single match, along with becoming more experienced. Senior Captain Emma Smith was the only senior on the team, so fortunately the team will not be losing a lot of players for next season.
Coach Garcia said he thinks the season turned out a lot better than he expected. “We’re doing a lot better than I thought we would,” he said. Smith said that the team atmosphere has been great and that everyone is really driven to improve and get better. Coach Garcia said that a lot of players have worked hard and improved tremendously including freshman Sydney Smith and junior Isa Raymond, along with the team as a whole. E. Smith said she is proud of Raymond for stepping up this year into the lineup as she plays three or four singles and is competing at a very high level.
Coach Garcia is optimistic for the future as he sees how far the team has come this year with all of their raw potential. Despite what happened this year, the KO girls tennis team will be back to their winning ways with their hard work.
“We have a winning culture, and that winning culture will continue no matter what happens this year,” E. Smith said.
