Girls Tennis Wraps Up Season With Tight Schedule

The team skips senior night to practice for conference and districts

Senior+Gabby+Gibson+eyes+the+tennis+ball+in+her+match+against+Troy+Buchanan+on+Sept.+14.

Jason Reberry

Senior Gabby Gibson eyes the tennis ball in her match against Troy Buchanan on Sept. 14.

by Reid Bayliss, Staff Writer

The girls tennis team has yet to win a duel this season, but Head Coach Jonathan Flaxbart believes his team has been constantly improving during his second year running the tennis program.

“We haven’t won any matches, but each girl gets better with each match,” Flaxbart said.

It was a slow start to the season, but with every match each player’s confidence is increasing. The week before the girls started the conference tournament, the team had three matches in four days against some tough schools. The Pirates traveled to Francis Howell Central on Sept. 12, to Troy Buchanan on Sept. 14 and Fort Zumwalt South on Sept.15 to lead up to their senior night at home against Barat Academy. But due to poor weather conditions, the team cancelled the duel and had a short practice to prepare for the two most important tournaments of the year.

“We should spread out the matches more to stretch out the season longer,” senior Gabby Gibson said.

With the team playing other schools every day after school, the players don’t have a lot of time to work on their game or their school work.

“We don’t have enough practice time and since they’re away, we get home late and I have a bunch of homework to do,” senior Tayler Bono said.

Freshman Regan Gould had an impressive outing at GACs as she finished third in #7 singles. But both the coach and team believe they must work on their serves and be mentally prepared for the biggest tournament of the year: districts. Coach Flaxbart said that with their constant improvement, a few of his players can make some noise during the postseason.

“We have to beat them, not ourselves,” Flaxbart said.