As the school year comes to an end so does the girls tennis season for Malden High School. The last match was played against Salem which was also senior night for Senior Captains, Tiffany Yu and Hong Li Zheng, along with Susan Wong, and Jacqueline Law.
Head Coach Cheryl Camassa, has now led the team through another season during her second year as coach. Camassa says that “[She] was able to know what to expect from each team in the league. [She] knew who [the team] lost close to last year and was able to give [her] players a little confidence boost when competing against [them] again.”
Although the season was off to a rough start, the team was able to pull through and gather a few wins. The team was able to win one more match than last year.
Unfortunately, the girl’s tennis team does not have a state championship, but is looking forward to making that a goal for the future in later seasons. Players can individually compete at states based on coach recommendation. The team can qualify for the tournament based on their record and typically need at least ten wins which is the general rule to qualify for states.
This year was much better than last season because of how close the team is. Sophomore Jenny Nguyen states “[she] believes it’s best for a team to be there for one another and not just for the sport, but also personally and outside the sport at the same time,” adding to the fact that the team “seemed more diverse and more bonded compared to last year’s.”
As the school year ends it also means it is time for the seniors to leave. Nguyen states that “although [their] good players will be leaving the team this year, [she] believes that [their] team will do good next year, possibly even better than this year’s season with the help from Coach and rigorous practices.”
New players will replace the seniors but never the memories and bond they have built. New players will be welcomed and begin practices once they are announced.
Nguyen’s personal favorite team to go against this season was North Reading because her opponent was a challenge for her. She noticed that “since [she] was playing with someone who played the same style as [her], [she] realized that [she was] able to make certain shots, but [could not] react to those exact ones fast and accurate enough.”
The highlight of the season, although it was hard to choose for Nguyen, would have to be “the home game against Danvers, where all the seniors played varsity. [The] JV players were proud to see how far [they’ve] gotten and how much [they] improved from the beginning to the end of the season.”
The end of a season also reveals how players have done as far as skills. For Nguyen, “One thing that [she] wished [she] could have improved on throughout the season would be [her] agility, being able to keep up with [her] opponent and their difficult shots.”
Looking onto a new school year, Nguyen looks forward to more people joining and getting to know the sport as well as being able to help guide the newcomers throughout the upcoming season, and of course, continuing to play together with the returning players.
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