In sports, there are generally two main goals each time you play: to win and to get better. For the girls tennis team, this season has not just been about competing to win every game, but also a young and promising group gaining valuable experience that will better prepare them for future seasons.
Having lost three of their top four seeded players last year, an influx of new talent to the team has led to a group that is made up of nearly half underclassmen. As a result, this has been a season heavily focused on learning and improving from day to day as much as possible.
“With only one practice a week it is tough, but we try to just work on the skills we most need to develop and do what we can to help them continue getting better,” coach Jeff Rickert said.
The team’s most veteran player is senior team captain Samantha McEachran, who has been on the varsity squad since her freshman year. Her extensive experience has helped to build the foundational qualities she uses to be a leader for her teammates now.
“With being on varsity for four years, I’ve experienced so much. I’ve made so many friends and the experiences will stay with me forever. I learned a lot about what it means to be a leader from the past captains of the team, and I’m proud to have been a captain myself for the past two years,” McEachran said.
Leaders like McEachran have acted as a guiding beacon for the underclassmen, who learn from the veteran players’ skills and past experiences to help further their own growth.
“A lot of the upperclassmen and coaches, having more experience than me, have been super supportive and have really encouraged me and helped me to improve,” sophomore Campbell Pitts said.
This conference tournament is going to be the first for many of these players. Experiencing the tournament this year will help train them to be better equipped to handle high-pressure moments in future seasons.
“Really it’s about building experience. We have some more veteran players we are hoping or expecting will do very well, but for a lot of the girls on the team it will be their first time out there and that experience they gain will be invaluable,” Rickert said.
Of the more experienced players on the team, the strongest contender to succeed in the conference tournament is McEachran. In her high school career she has not lost a singles match within the Central Piedmont Conference (CPC), and has an overall singles record of 56-2.
“Sam is the top of our conference and she’s just really good. We’re hoping to see her make the state playoffs this year and then make a deep run,” Rickert said.
Winning and success are never a given in sports, but this team has strongly capitalized on what they can control. They have worked to get better and more experienced every day, maintaining a mindset that is not just focused on winning in the present but working towards what they can do to improve their chances to win in the future as well. They hope that the work they’ve put into developing throughout this season has laid a strong foundation for more experienced and winning teams ahead.
