Meet the New Providence Girls Tennis Team

Meet+the+New+Providence+Girls+Tennis+Team

Georgia Burkitt, staff writer

The NPHS girls tennis team is one of the bigger teams at New Providence High School, with 32 girls this season. Of these players, eleven are on varsity, and seven start each match. 

This season, Maggie Liu is playing first singles,  Lily Liu is playing second singles, and Maria Armenciu is at third singles.  Tanvi Silvester and Gianna Culver are playing first doubles, and June Blougouras and Emi Goswami are at second doubles. 

Maggie Liu took the top of the ladder as a freshman with her talent and persistence, and has proven herself to be an integral part of the team. 

Maggie said that a big plus for her is the environment of the team:  “I love the tennis team because I get to play with amazing people who are all very encouraging”.

Co-captain Silvester agreed: “My favorite part of the team is how open and welcoming everyone is. I am really happy with how our team functions together, JV and varsity. As captains, it’s important to have an environment where everyone can just have fun and be themselves.”

The captains on the team this year are Silvester, Goswami and returning captain Georgia Burkitt. All three of the captains this year are seniors who have each received a varsity letter for each year they have played. 

One of the biggest challenges for the girls on the tennis team are the challenge matches that have to be played at the start of each season. They are matches that determine a player’s spot on varsity or JV, so they are never guaranteed to come back to the same spot each year. 

According to Silvester:  “My biggest challenge on the team so far has definitely been the challenge matches. It is very frustrating having to play so many matches and figure put who is playing what. It can also be frustrating to play your own teammates at times too”.

Both JV and Varsity players have to play challenge matches every season. They can be difficult at times and frustrating to players, but they’re necessary to determine the ladder and ranking of each player. 

This year sophomore Lily Liu, Maggie’s sister, is returning for her second year at second singles.  Lily is a strong player who has held her own by winning matches as the youngest on the team.

The doubles teams consist of upper and lowerclassmen as well.  At first doubles, co-captain senior Silvester and sophomore Culver are paired together. At second doubles is senior Goswami and junior Blougouras. 

The JV team consists of 21 girls. They all play a big role in the heart and spirit of the team. Alex Munies is the captain of the JV team, taking a crucial role of coordinating things for the team, keeping a team with such depth in control.