Boys? and girls? varsity tennis experienced rocky starts to their seasons, with both teams losing their scrimmages to Yorktown High School on March 4 1-8 and 2-7, respectively.
Their performance was hindered due to the inclement weather in February and early March, which kept the teams from practicing on the tennis courts due to their wet condition.
“I think the weather was a really big factor [in our loss],” sophomore Mili Mittal said. “The scrimmage against Yorktown was really the first time we actually got to practice on a court.
Coach Robin Crider, however, felt that the experience was beneficial.
“Sometimes games like these are necessary, though, so I can tell what I need who I need to work with individually and what the team needs to work on as a whole,” Crider said.
Both varsity teams are comprised primarily of underclassmen this year after losing a number of seniors.
However, the girls? and boys? teams is hopeful that they can bounce back from their performance against Yorktown in the next few weeks.
“We?re a very young team, [which influenced our performance against Yorktown],” sophomore Peter Bryan said. “I?m confident that we?ll make a comeback in the next few weeks.”
New boys? coach Luke Haen is also expecting a comeback.
“The game scrimmage against Yorktown wasn?t so good,” Haen said. “For one thing, we didn?t get to practice much beforehand.”
The weather that day acted against the teams as well, according to Haen.
“It was freezing that day,” he said, “and the tennis courts were still damp from the snowstorm.”
The recent change in weather, however, has meant extended practice times on the courts.
“The team was really looking forward to getting to practice outside,” sophomore David Holmes said. “We weren?t able to practice tennis inside, so we could only go through basic exercises. I think that sort of crippled our performance.”
Both girls? and boys? teams anticipate successful seasons of Liberty District play.
“It?s too early to predict how well our team is going to do,” Crider said. “But we?re a young team with a lot of energy and determination. I?m really looking forward to the coming season.”
On Friday, both teams competed in their season openers against McLean High School. Haen anticipated the teams being “evenly matched,” but results were not available as of press time.