The Girls Varsity Tennis team prepares for competing in Division I, having a current league score of 2-0 and scoring a victory of 17-1 against the San Gabriel Matadors on Sept. 4. Their first conference game will be against the South Pasadena Tigers on September 20.
Due to construction on the tennis courts, their first practice was postponed to Aug. 27. Head Coach Richard Slaymaker, who is the brother of the former Head Coach Nate Slaymaker, expects the upperclassman to act as leaders.
“This year’s team is going to be good because I’ve known them for two years now,” Junior Allison Tam said. “We can work better together because we’ve known each other.”
Senior Morgan Leong will be this years’s the captain again after being co-captain last year.
She hopes to make CIF, prepare to face tougher opponents and to make it to individual leagues.
To meet her third goal, the players must place second or above in the Rio Hondo league. Individually, each athlete knows what they need to improve.
“At first, we were all really surprised that we were in Division I,” Leong said. “But after seeing who we play, it’s pretty much the same as Divisions II and III. Still, I think we will have to practice a lot more because Arcadia’s super strong and they’re in our division.”
Coach Slaymaker wants the players to perform at their best. They will have practices in the afternoon rather than during 7th period because Coach Slaymaker is not a teacher on campus.
“I want them to try their best to continue to learn and grow as tennis players and as individuals,” Coach Slaymaker said. “I have a lot of seniors here, so one of my goals for them is to have a reflection piece for this season and realize what they’ve learned from tennis and how that can impact their lives in the future.”
With the team’s 2016 CIF title and their Division I ranking, Coach Slaymaker knows that the players may face high expectations. He wants to ease the pressure on the athletes.
“We’re going to do a fair bit of conditioning to get them ready physically,” Coach Slaymaker said. “I probably will either get excerpts or give them individual copies of ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ It’s a little book that really helps deal with the mentality and the stress of tennis.”
The team’s next home match will be against the Monrovia Wildcats on Sept. 25, marking their second conference game.
