The girls’ tennis team went 5-10 this season. With many younger players on the team, everyone is returning next year except for two seniors. In preparation for the latest season, some players had practiced since the end of the previous season to improve their skills.
“I played in the wintertime like once a week with John (local tennis coach),” said junior Ally Witter.
Similarly, junior Lily Fortin said, “I played almost every day over the summer and I did camps and lessons at the Tennis Center.”
Such consistent practice during the off-season has helped many players meet their personal goals this year in-season.
Freshman Elsa Kehrer said, “One goal was to play singles.” This year she met her goal by putting in the time over the summer to practice and played number three singles.
Sophomore Ali Ravert, when asked about her set goals, said, “I was just aiming to improve my skills and hopefully get some varsity experience.” She achieved her goal by playing number two doubles this season.
Ravert reflected on the season and said, “I feel the season went good for my first time playing varsity, but I definitely still have things that need improvement.”
When asked about her thoughts on the season, Witter said, “Our record wasn’t great but Mifflinburg was a lit match.”
Montoursville’s varsity team beat Mifflinburg 5-0 twice during the regular season.
Freshman Mya Wilson shared her thoughts about her first year on the team. She said, “Montoursville Girls Tennis is extremely welcoming to new players. Everyone always made sure that nobody was getting left out. From practice to just talking on the bus, everyone was always so inclusive even to the new members of the team.”
Preparation and goals for next season are already being set and junior Jill Stone said she is going to, “Hit green fuzzy balls over and over and over again.”
Junior Kendall Simms said, “I would like to play number one doubles next year.”
Meanwhile, as the regular season came to a close, practices for districts began.
Districts first started with singles. Senior Katelyn Good played North Penn Liberty in her first round and won. She played against Hughesville in the second round and lost to the eventual district champion. This left her and the other doubles district players eight days to practice.
To prepare for districts Simms said, “I need to play a lot with my partner because we have never really played with each other.” Going into the match Witter and Simms both shared their mindsets.
Witter said, “We bouta get this dub.”
Simms said, “My mindset was that I was going to be a net monster and use the wind to my advantage.”
The day was very windy, causing scorecards to blow off of the net, tennis balls to hurl to one side of the complex, and water bottles to get knocked over and roll down the courts.
Simms and Witter, Montoursville’s number two doubles district team, played a tough match against Bloomsburg’s number one doubles district team.
Simms said, “The score was bad, but the score did not reflect how we played.”
Good and Stone, Montoursville’s number one doubles district team, played Towanda in their first round and won. In the second round, they played Hughsville’s number two doubles district team in a close match and lost in the third set with a tournament-high of 30 games.
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