By the middle of their season, the New Providence Girls Varsity tennis team has already exceeded expectations made at the end of its last season. With their current record 5-3, the girls feel very confident about the remainder of the season.
“The teams that we have played were at or exceeded our level, and our team has really stepped up to the challenge to play at a higher level,” says junior captain and first singles player Sreesha Venkat.
The team’s hard work is evident as they are winning their conference and hope to stay on top for the third year in a row. While they are working to defend their conference title, Coach Goldstein has high hopes for his team’s long term goal.
“We did reasonably well in counties with junior Keika Mori finishing fourth at second singles, Sam Midwinter in sixth at third singles, and the first doubles (Cindy Jiang and Alex Maglaras) and second doubles (Marika Mori and Anavi Anad) placing eighth and seventh, respectively. I would like to see the team move past states to the Tournament of Champions.”
Sam Midwinter, who is also a junior captain, is very proud of her team’s accomplishments. Because they have done so well in their conference in the past she believes that they will win and hopes that the team will move up to a higher conference. The great thing about the team, she explained, is that not only are the girls all hard workers and they want to do their best, but everyone has become great friends throughout the season: “The team has gotten much closer and will continue to do so next year because most of the girls will be returning.”
The camaraderie has had a positive effect on the atmosphere during practice and matches. The girls on the team are working well together and respecting each other while pushing their teammates to become better players.
With the end of the season roughly four weeks away, the team is working harder than ever to be better than they were at the beginning of the season in order to come out on top in the states tournament.
UPDATE: The team’s finished their season with record of 13-8, with key wins against Union, AL Johnson, Elizabeth, Cranford, Plainfield, and Elizabeth and tough losses to Oak Knoll, Kent Place, Westfield, GL, and Bridgewater-Raritan. The team also made it to the NJ Group 1 State Sectional Finals, but lost to Glen Ridge, 1-4. They did accomplish their goal of winning the Conference.