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Serving the ball, Charlotte Barnard (10) locates the best spot to place her serve. She had to quickly run onto the court after her serve because her opponent was able to receive the ball.

   On Monday, April 10, the Girl’s Tennis team faced off against Griffith. It was a short match because Griffith only had three girls eligible to play. This meant they could not play the usual full three singles and two doubles. Instead, they played three singles, and Griffith was forced to forfeit the two doubles. This caused the girls to win five to zero. Those who were able to play matches were Ava Bafia (10), Tatiana Marjanovich (10), and Elise Smith (12).

   “I didn’t know what to expect. Every year you meet girls who you have never seen before, and you don’t know their skill level until you play them. Even though they had three girls, I just kept an open mindset and was ready to expect the unexpected,” Smith said.

   The open mindset and competitive attitude worked out in Smith’s favor. She was able to win both sets and work on skills during the match. Because many girls did not get to play in a match against Griffith, the coaches held challenge matches for them. These are inter-team matches that give the girls a chance to move up and get a place on Varsity or JV. 

   “I was a little surprised, but most of the team expected a small number since they had a very small team last year as well. It was about five if I remember correctly. I wasn’t too disappointed since [not getting to play] was expected and since I will play a lot more matches during the rest of the season. While most of us didn’t play against the other team, we still played with each other,” Charlotte Barnard (10) said.

   At the end of the Griffith match, the team had two wins and no losses, but there was still a long way to go in the season. They had another game the next day against Lowell. They then continued with games against Hanover, Highland and Adrean before starting off their conference play against Merrillville on April  20. Coaches Bryan Szalonek, Social Studies, and Joe Skvarek have high hopes and expectations for the rest of the season.

   “It’s unfortunate to see some tennis programs down. Griffith didn’t even have a full varsity. Going in, we knew it was going to be an easy match, but you just hope they can build up their team to become more competitive in the future. We lost a handful of starters, so we have a lot of kids playing in different positions. We just have to continue to get better, get more experience, and build for sectionals,” Szalonek said.