Tennis season ends after district loss

Despite their best efforts, tennis draws an end to a long season at the Class 2 District 2 tournament at Nerinx on Oct. 2 with a score of 5-0.
Tennis Coach Kevi Harwood said that preparation was nothing specific for this match, but rather the knowledge and practice gained from matches in the past.
“Preparing was an ongoing thing, the more they are in competition the more tournament tough they are,” Harwood said.
Other than past preparation as a team, senior Emily Heigham prepared by playing with her friends the prior weekend.
“To prepare for this match I went to the courts with some friends to practice over the weekend,” Heighman said.
Junior Ava Thines said she was happy with her matches, specifically her serves and ground strokes; however, she could have improved by staying in bounds during volleys.
“I feel like I played pretty well, and tried my best, even though I did end up losing. My strengths for this match were my serves and my ground strokes because I took my time instead of rushing. My weaknesses for this match were my volleys because when I hit some of them they ended up going out,” Thines said.
Harwood said inexperience contributed to the team’s loss since key players from last year were lost this year.
“Our weaknesses were that our team is inexperienced. Last year the top six players graduated and 90% of the team has not had any lessons or competed outside school,” Harwood said.
Heigham said she was more confident about her singles than her doubles.
“I thought my doubles were okay but could’ve been better. I think my singles match was some of the best playing I’ve done this season so I was really happy about the matches overall,” Heigham said.
Thines said that the warm weather impacted her ability to play her match leading to a 6-0 finish.
“The challenge I had during this match was that it was kind of hot out, so it was a little harder to play like normal,” Thines said.
She said she plans to continue playing in the offseason by doing lessons and joining a league to improve for next season.
“To improve in the off-season, I am planning on playing maybe in a league, and just doing extra lessons at Vetta with other people on the team, so I can be better next year,” Thines said.