By Jessica Correa—

This year’s girls’ varsity tennis team is very competitive, but yet pretty young. “Most of the girls are just getting used to this level of competition,” said coach Cotaldi. Although the team lost a lot of the varsity players, the team has worked very hard and made up the loss.

Krishna Patel playing in the third singles is the varsity tennis captain. “I chose Krishna Patel as our captain because she has been on the team for four years. She also has respect for her teammates due to her excellent work ethic. She has been the leader of this team since day one of the season,” explained Cotaldi.

“Tennis is a team sport as well as an individual sport. If you are competitive but at the same time love the team spirit, tennis is perfect.” —Vidhi Gandhi

Krishna Patel has been interested in this sport all her life.

“I’ve been watching tennis since I was a little girl,” Patel commented. Being captain is very frustrating but also rewarding. During the journey of a season, the captain comes across challenges. “The greatest challenge I encounter during the season is not having enough confidence in my skills,” Patel said. A side from the frustration and the weight of being captain, Patel is enjoying this season. “. . . The girls on the team make it worthwhile. The coaches are the cherry on top of my fourth season.”

Vidhi Gandhi, another Varsity player, has demonstrated her outstanding skills. She started to play tennis because most of her friends played. However, after a few practices she felt in love with the sport. “We are like a family, always motivating each other. I love the time I spend with the team,” Gandhi stated. All great players have difficult times. Gandhi faced a great challenge this season. “…make up for all the 3 years I did not play tennis very well. I had to improve my game drastically in a very short period of time.” After all the challenges that this team faced, they made it through together!

Both Patel and Gandhi want to see their team have future success so they offer this advice.

“This sport is more than just a man/woman sport a team sport.  We win together, we lose together. When you start believing in yourself and in each other; that’s what really makes the season memorable.” —Krishna Patel