Tennis prepares for Sectionals
May 19, 2023
After coming up short in the Sectional championship vs. Franklin last year, the Lady Woodmen tennis team looks to avenge the devastating loss with a championship this season.
The losses of their No. 1 and No. 2 singles players as well as a couple of doubles players meant the returning and incoming Lady Woodmen had huge shoes to fill. One player who fits this description is No. 3 singles, freshmen Mariah Ellington.
“With this being my first season of high school tennis, I have not had the opportunity to experience what Sectionals truly feels like. All I can really go off of is middle school matches as well as matches from this season. I have learned that I must play every point like my life depends on it and that maintaining a positive mindset is really important,” Ellington said.
After not only gaining experience from a Sectional championship run last season but also from competing at the varsity level since their freshmen year, juniors Brooklyn Hanson, No. 2 singles, and Maggie Boyce, No.1 singles, know what they have to do to achieve what they could not last season.
“We know going into Sectional play that we will have to play Franklin and Center Grove who are two very competitive teams. We expect to have hard-fought matches against them and compete hard in order to receive the results we want. As a team, we will need to take advantage of the rest of our practices and matches to get as many reps as possible. Since we know what to expect going into Sectionals, it is important for us to work on our weaknesses and our opponents,” Hanson said.
Boyce also offered her opinion on what the Lady Woodmen need to do to win their first Sectional championship since 2014
“Any opponent my teammates or I face during Sectionals will be difficult. Franklin and Center Grove will be the most talented and experienced teams that we could face. They are both also ranked at the state level, so they will certainly be challenging teams to defeat. As a team, we need to be able to translate all of our hard work and dedication into any match we play in order to win Sectionals,” Boyce said.
The Woodmen faced Franklin yesterday in the first round of Sectionals.
