Varsity girls tennis served up wins, with an overall season record of  21-3 and Sophomore Ella Gates made it to the Individual State Tournament. Assistant coach Samantha Bennett said the team’s attitude contributed to their progress this year. 

     “The overall attitude of the team got so much better because the girls realized that you have to always have a positive attitude,” Bennett said. “Tennis is a sport that it’s not over until you say it’s over. You could be down 7-1 in games, and you can come back and win, and I think they definitely progressed in that mindset.” 

     Varsity beat Park Hill High School Sept. 26, a long-awaited victory that hadn’t happened in eight seasons. Varsity captain senior Ava Gates said walking into the match she wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but the team had high hopes because the team was strong.

    “We knew that their No. 1 player was injured that day, and so everyone was having to play up one, and so that gave us hope,” Ava said.

     Junior Carli Hurtt said beating Park Hill was exciting. 

     “They are our rivals in tennis, so it felt good to beat them this year,” Hurtt said.

     In the Class 3 District 8 Tournament, they beat Oak Park High School Oct. 3 and continued the next day, beating Park Hill High School 6-3. They went on to play Liberty High School Oct. 5 in the Sweet 16, losing 2-5. 

     Sophomore Ella Gates earned a trip to the Individual State Tournament Oct.13, finishing 1-2 in her matches. She was one win shy of being a medalist.

     “The state tournament was a great learning experience,” Ella Gates said. “I enjoyed having some of my teammates there to support me.”    The team attributed their success to their dynamic, and senior Breanne Garstang said they had a good connection. 

 “Even though tennis is more of a quiet sport, we were still able to cheer on people,” Garstang said.

     It was Bennett’s first year assistant coaching girls tennis. Having four captains, two who were “in training,” there was significant team leadership.

     “We had a sophomore and a freshman captain in training, and so the young leadership was really awesome in learning from the seniors,” Bennett said.