Two swift bounces off the pavement and the rally begins. The court is lined by paint and players, merged together through a flood of encouragement. Quickly, a racket is raised and met by a swing. One player is on the court, but a team of girls are joined in her competition. This type of connection is the focal point of WA Girls’ Tennis, fueling the team for their upcoming season.
After a 14-2 postseason record in 2024, WA Girls’ Tennis is ready to spring back into action for the upcoming 2025 season. They aim to once again make it to the State quarter finals, or further, continuing on a trend of gradual improvement. Above all else, they strive to cultivate a unified and prepared team.
“When you’re playing with [WA Tennis], there’s always people cheering for you and keeping you uplifted,” senior captain Emily Wang said. “It’s just really nice to have that many people behind your back.”
Tennis features a unique team dynamic that is unlike many other sports offered at WA. While athletes will compete in individual matches, pairs also compete in doubles. Each match then contributes to the team’s overall score. This fusion of an individual and team sport ultimately draws an advantage to the Ghosts’ strong sense of community.
“Every person plays in their own unique way, so it’s important to empower each other, and also learn from each other,” Wang said. “And also, I would say sportsmanship is really important. […] Whenever other teams play us, they’re like, ‘that was probably one of the nicest teams we’ve ever played.’ So that’s something we really value.”
Wang and junior captain Haasini Sriraman, both of whom have been playing tennis since they were kids, express a mutual excitement for the upcoming season. They are awaiting final rosters after tryouts hosted throughout the week of March 17, but anticipate around nine to eleven starters on varsity. Their head coach, Tracy Capone, has been with the team for thirty years and aims to maintain camaraderie through new and returning players.
“I tell the girls from day one that in order to be a part of this team, you have to bring a positive attitude. You have to be supportive of your teammates […],” Capone said. “They’re a great group of girls, I love coaching them. [I’m] very fortunate.”
As the captains describe, tennis’ individualistic nature can be taxing on players’ health, and requires athletes to maintain both their physical and mental wellbeing. In order to foster this growth, the team hosts a “mental toughness” meeting at the start of their season. At this meeting, players listen to Capone discuss how she’s seen past players approach challenges, then opening the floor to all team members to discuss how they’ve overcome adversity in the past.
“[Capone] is always telling you that you can do this. And she’s always reinforcing a positive mindset. And during matches, she never once stresses you out,” Sriraman said. “She’s always talking to you and just keeping your mind off of a missed point or a lost game.”
After only losing two graduating seniors from the past season, the team embraces many familiar faces. A majority of their strategy will depend on challenge matches and rising competition, but the team is hopeful to see improvement, especially with the return of successful doubles pairs.
“Our goal every season is to improve upon our previous season. And when you have such a great season like we did last year, that can be difficult,” Capone said. “However, we still have a number of players returning, which is wonderful. I think we’re actually going to be a stronger team than we were last year.”
Once they complete their tryouts and roster, the team is eager to start playing. According to Wang and Sriraman, they strive to maintain their momentum through a diverse and well-connected community.
“I think the team’s [success can be attributed to] the addition of new players and the diversity of the team. We got a lot of different perspectives on how people play,” Sriraman said. “A big part of our team is just learning from each other more than learning from our own matches. We learn a lot about each other and how people play by watching other people play.”
