An increase in girls this year is helping the girls tennis team compete.

“We have a full JV and varsity team now, so that’s helped a lot,” senior captain Joselyn Rosales said.

Head varsity coach Zanobia Syed is in her third year of coaching and is excited about working with a new and full team.

“We have a very young team, and they haven’t been playing together long. We had a rough start, but that’s to be expected, they’re still learning how to play,” Syed said.

With two seniors and one other returning player, Syed is focused on forming a solid varsity team.

“We moved all the JV from last year up to varsity and that’s a huge step up between those two level wise. It’s really good to see all the girls embracing that,” Syed said.

The main focus for the team is learning the fundamentals of tennis.

“We’re just working on technique this year, of course conditioning, but mostly technique,” senior captain Christal Mendez said.

Even though many of the girls are new, the team is more united than they have been.

“We have more team bonding this year,” Mendez said. “We are a much closer team this year than we have been in previous years.”

Syed is hopeful for the season since varsity has two conference wins, including a shutout against East Aurora High School.

“My expectation for the girls is that they always keep improving,” Syed said.