Girls’ tennis wins conference again

Nikki Mock, Feature/Spread/Sports Editor

The girls’ tennis team has had a great start this school year, and an even better end. Heading straight for their conference title, the girls proved worthy of being one of Grayslake Central’s best sports teams with a 13-1 record. With a seasoned coach and eager players, everyone stayed focused on doing their part within the team to help others advance.

Last year, girls’ tennis lost plenty of their team to college, as varsity was mostly comprised of the graduating class of seniors. This may have seemed like a loss at first, but numerous lowerclassmen had the chance to move up, allowing them to hone their skills at a higher level.

“The nice thing about tennis is that since it’s really small, it’s really easy to team bond,” said senior and first singles player Lia Boucek. As a veteran on the tennis team, she has had a lot of time on her hands to improve.

“I know first singles is a very hard position, so even though I’ve lost I think I really improved over that match,” said Boucek.

“We’re starting to take more initiative to ask for help and help our teammates so we can move on and not keep falling back,” said senior Cate Doty. This is not something seen by just one player, though, as co-captain Anna O’Keefe has seen improvement through teamwork as well.

“We’re really playing well as a team, and we’ve gotten good at strategizing,” said O’Keefe.

The team’s overall effort to win conference has paid off, as they officially won conference on Saturday, September 7. Their achievements have not gone unnoticed and will only push the girls’ team to progress in the following years.