Coming off a successful season last year when the varsity girls tennis team defeated Central (Springfield) to come in 3rd place at state they are off to a strong start this season.  Maggie Huff, varsity tennis captain, is excited to be able to play matches this season even with the current circumstances. 

The girls varsity tennis team is off to a successful start as they have won all five of their matches. Tennis is considered a low contact sport which allowed them to start competitions in St.Louis County before many other sports could.

“I am thankful tennis is a great socially distanced sport, so besides wearing masks when we aren’t playing there isn’t much that has changed,” Huff said. “However, our season started a lot later than usual so we won’t get to play as many teams.”

Huff believes that they have a very solid team this year, so she hopes the team will win the majority of their matches and continue in the postseason if that is allowed this season with the guidelines. Huff has ambitions for her own success. 

“My goals this season are to become more consistent with my ground strokes and really just enjoy the season and bond with the team,” Huff said. 

Like Huff, sophomore and varsity tennis player, Sophia Klein, is happy they get to play matches against other schools because it gives a sense of normalcy.

“It helps keep me active and gives me something to look forward to. Also I can see my friends in person which is really nice,” Klein said

While they are still able to play matches this year, Klein says it still is different because there are less people playing. The girls also have to social distance and wear their masks when they are not playing. Spectators are also not allowed to watch, so Klein says that it makes it quiet. 

Klein has played tennis for about three years now.

“Some of my goals this season are to improve my serves and volleys, get better at communicating with my doubles partner, and become quicker on my feet,” Klein said.

The junior varsity tennis team had their first match Sept. 22 against Eureka. So far the JV tennis squad has beat Eureka and Parkway West.

Junior Ansley Brody has been playing tennis for around 4 ½ years now and she is a member of the junior varsity tennis team. She is happy that tennis is allowed to play because it gave her a chance to see people she hasn’t seen in a long time and it gave some normalcy from life before COVID-19.

“My hopes for the team this year are that we get through this season healthy and safe and hopefully with a good winning streak,” Brody said.

Junior varsity coach, Heather Jafari, thinks the team dynamics are great because the girls are working hard and enjoying being able to spend time with one another.

“My main goals are that the girls have fun, build relationships, and grow a love for playing tennis,” Jafari said.

This season is different from other seasons because it is shorter. Due to losing the first two weeks of fall sports it really cut into their season.

“Luckily we were cleared to play matches and will have four one week and three the next. Makes it a very fast season, but I am happy that we can participate,” Jafari said.