Throughout demanding preseason training the tennis team finished first in district for the first time in more than five years. Playoffs begin October 8. Head Coach Chad Redwine prepares the team to capitalize on this playoff opportunity by continuing to train on and off the court.
“We want to advance as far in the playoffs as we can,” Coach Redwine said. “Just keep playing the same tennis and keep going to get better.”
Earlier in the season other schools in 6A District 3 were predicted to be district champions. Although these expectations already put the team down, it didn’t stop them from playing their best tennis and coming out first in the district.
“As far as on paper, predictions were concerning,” Coach Redwine said, “but that’s when we end up playing the games instead of just looking at paper.”
The athletes who make the team successful work and train outside of regular practice time. According to the coach, the integrity and grit portrayed by this group of athletes have helped them succeed in the regular season and promisingly translate to the playoffs.
“It’s kind of not what you do during practice that counts, it’s what you do outside of practice that counts. Most of our varsity kids take lessons and they go to drills and they train on their own,” Coach Redwine said. “So without doing all the outside of school stuff, the program wouldn’t be a success.”
Players believe dominating and winning district helps keep the players motivated. Even throughout the intense preparation and constant grind for the title. This accomplishment reinvigorated the motivation and confidence of the athletes to keep pushing past the regular season.
“We’ve tried to do it for years, but we couldn’t do it,” senior Austin Galley said. “So this was the best shot we had.”
As leadership stepped up, unity came along with it. When people think of tennis, they also think of a solo sport. According to the team, bringing the entire team together takes the same amount of passion and orchestration as the main team sports like football and basketball.
“I mean, we just practiced hard and we supported each other, good teammates,” Galley said. “We’ll just see what matches up best, and practice and work hard.”
This playoff opportunity has brought a chance to the tennis team to have a season that will be remembered forever. Going far in the playoffs looks more attainable now than ever. With remaining goals the team will put in full effort to have the most successful season yet.
“We’ve looked at it and it’s going to be a pretty close match,” Coach Redwine said. “It looks like we line up so it’s going to be a give and take.”
Eva • Oct 31, 2024 at 7:39 am
Ive heard about tennis this year i heard they were doing really good.