On April 23, the Central Kitsap girls tennis team went against Capital High School playing two singles and three doubles. The first singles was won by Adi Nelson with her winning the first set 6-1 and the second set 7-6. The second singles game was won by Ava Chadwick, winning the first set 6-2, tying the second set 6-6 and winning the tie break 7-6.
“I’m proud of myself for winning the game today but I can definitely work on my serves because it’s not the best,” Chadwick said. “If I had a really powerful serve, it would be really cool.”
In the doubles, Kaylee Heys and May-Lin Zhang won their first set 6-4 and second set 6-1. The second doubles game, played by Ashlyn Manchester and Jhazel Tirador was a loss with the first set being 7-5, second set 0-6, and the third set 4-6. The final doubles game was a win with the first set 6-2 and second set 6-1, played by Violet Weller and Evelyn Straumann.
“Whether it’s a loss or a win, I want my athletes to feel fulfilled with their performance on the court,” Head Coach Hibbs Turner said.
Usually, during games, the JV tennis players play against their own teammates since most opposing schools have smaller tennis teams. This game meant more to the players because more JV girls got to play against players from other schools.
“I’m excited because some of our JV kids that usually have to play other CK kids are getting the opportunity to play players from other schools,” Assistant Coach Dodd Whitney said. “I work mostly with JV and I’m curious to see how that goes.”
As a tennis athlete, it can be discouraging to play through a loss of points, but it’s essential to have a positive attitude and keep working hard towards scoring a win.
“Once you’ve lost the point, there’s nothing you can do except fight harder for the next point,” Chadwick said. “Even when you’re down 40-love, you can still get three points in a row without them getting to that final winning point. You just need to believe in yourself.”
Each sport has their own inevitable challenges to overcome. Tennis, while being a team sport, has individuality on the court which can put pressure on athletes.
“Tennis is hard because it’s a team, but once a match happens, it’s just you and yourself out there,” Coach Turner said. “That piece of feeling alone, and the pressure of performing well on your shoulders is one of the hardest things to overcome.”
Adaptation and perseverance is something athletes learn through tennis because it’s an outdoor sport, and weather can heavily affect play. Bad weather can lead to games and practices being cancelled or practices being adjusted to indoors, which is not ideal.
“Dealing with weather and transportation is a struggle because you see how hard it is on the athletes when they get excited about a match and then it gets cancelled,” Coach Whitney said. “It’s tough to see, but it’s a new learning curve.”
While winning feels good and is the main goal in tennis, having fun out on the court is important for overall enjoyment of the sport.
“I hope we can get as many wins as possible while still having fun, still being able to laugh and chat with other teams,” JV Player Olivia DeGroot said. “The goal is to have good energy on court.”
