After four highly successful seasons, which resulted in multiple Colonial League championships, the Southern Lehigh boys’ tennis team is entering a rebuilding phase. After losing several key seniors, the team seeks to regain experience and train their freshman players.
“We’re young, we’re inexperienced, we’re gonna take things one day at a time and look to get better each day,” head coach and Health/P.E. teacher Mrs. Megan Kane said.
Between the 2018–2019 and 2022–2023 seasons, the team achieved a combined record of 47–12, which includes regular season and postseason matches. However, after the graduation of seniors Harrison Clark, Cooper Kline, and Thijs Immerzeel at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the team lost much of its starting talent. As a result, the roster looks very different this season, with only seven players, three of whom are freshmen.
“We’re running a little thin, but we’re making it work,” senior and 2nd Singles competitor Thomas Conrad said.
Typically, freshmen joining a varsity sports team strive to refine their skills and learn from veteran players. However, that isn’t the case for the tennis team this year. The team’s three freshmen were thrust into the starting lineup, with Alexander Ahnert at #1 Singles and Jack Connelly and Akhil Rayapudi at #1 Doubles and #2 Doubles, respectively.
Regardless, the seniors have made it their goal to guide the team’s newest cohort and provide them with the same support they once received.
“I know what it’s like as a freshman to get guidance, so I’m gonna return the favor and do the same to the freshman,” senior and 3rd Singles competitor Andrew Yanega said.
Apart from changes in the team roster, Coach Kane is serving as a first-time head coach this season after sharing coaching responsibilities with retired head coach Andrea Drabenstott last season. Faced with the challenge of mentoring a very different and young team, Coach Kane focuses on instilling the basics of practice and competition into her players.
“I tell them to focus on competing, getting better each day, and learning from [their] losses,” Coach Kane said.
Given the team’s rebuilding state, they plan on going through the season one match at a time. However, some players are still motivated to achieve a postseason appearance.
“For the team, I think to win half or more of our matches would be a good goal, as well as reaching districts,” Ahnert said.
Others see this year as an opportunity to surprise opponents, as Southern Lehigh is now a dark horse in the Colonial League.
“A lot of other teams count us out, but I see this as a year of great potential since we are underdogs,” Yanega said.
Although the team is tirelessly working to hone their skills and build camaraderie, they are most focused on improving one thing for this season: their mindfulness and composure.
“I think, more than anything, the most important quality to have is a good mental game,” Ahnert said. “You can have really good groundstrokes, but that won’t do anything if you don’t have a good mental game.”
