Last Tuesday, Varsity Tennis competed against Melissa for their final district match of the season. They won 19-0, securing their district trophy after being undefeated for the fall season. Junior varsity tennis was also undefeated this season and won Junior varsity districts.

“I feel super excited about winning districts. It shows the growth of our team and the resiliency to survive a tough first year of opening a school and playing in a tough district and how everyone has gotten better,” Velez said. “It’s always good to reap a reward after a hard-working season.”

The tennis team had a difficult fall season last school year, with considerably fewer wins. The varsity and Junior varsity teams put in numerous hours of practice this year to prepare for their matches. The team began training in late July.

“Winning districts feels amazing, especially knowing the work we put in,” senior and varsity player, Fiona Starks said. “Last year, I barely played, so it feels incredible to go from that to being one of the starters my last year at Walnut Grove.”

In practice, players worked through a variety of drills and technique methods to improve their game. They routinely went over forehand, backhand, serving, and footwork practice to use against their opponents. The coaches also emphasized the strategy of where the players should aim to place the ball in a match.

“It was really fun to spend time with the team at all the matches,” freshman and Junior varsity player, Averie Sample said. “I am really proud of everyone on the team, I think we all played really well.”

As the varsity team transitions into playoffs and the Junior varsity team heads into off-season, the coaches intend to focus on strength and conditioning.

“We want to get better, faster, and stronger. Last year, we spent a lot of time playing tennis in off-season, this year we are going to spend a lot of time becoming better athletes,” Velez said. “We feel like we know tennis now, so we’re going to improve ourselves and that’s gonna be a lot of fun.”