The sun beats down on her forehead as she takes a deep breath and bounces the ball. 

Underneath her hat, freshman Charlotte Doughty’s gaze darts across the court to her opponent, who clutches their racquet and leans from one foot to the other. With a toss of the ball, she arches her other arm back in a circular motion that brushes the ball and sends it sailing in the air, eventually landing perfectly inside the service box. 

It’s anyone’s game then, but she chooses to eliminate any chance of error, sending the ball flying back and forth. The point will last for minutes, but she perseveres. 

“Don’t listen to the people who say I’m 4’11, I’m 5 foot I swear!” Doughty says.

Although she’s small, Doughty has already earned a top spot on the Beachwood girls varsity tennis team. 

In a typical year, varsity sports teams consist primarily of upperclassmen, but this year’s girls varsity tennis team is an exception. The team includes four freshmen, two sophomores, just two juniors and only one senior.

Despite almost half of the team being freshman, the tennis team has been able to find success and growth. Varsity head coach Carmella Cira looks back on the season as a work in progress.

“We did okay, had some good wins and some tough losses,” she said.

The overwhelming number of underclassmen on the team this year has been tough due to a lack of experience; however, these young athletes stepped up to the challenge.

The team’s season ended earlier in October with the sectional tournament. Here, sophomore Shreya Chellu battled against the No. 1 seed Alexis Nyborg from Orange  and sophomore Amy Zhou was able to advance to quarterfinals and battle against the No. 3 seed Brooke McNeal from Kenston. 

A week prior, the team placed fourth in the CVC tennis tournament. Doughty competed in the first singles third place match and senior Nia Brown advanced to the semifinals round for third singles. Two Beachwood teams also competed for 3rd place in both the championship doubles and first doubles.

Although the large number of freshmen and sophomores initially posed a challenge this season, Coach Cira is optimistic.

 “I think it will impact the future since we are such a young team, we have time to grow and improve rather than losing [players] this year or next,” she said.

One critical player the team is not in danger of losing is Charlotte Doughty. 

“She’s a freshman,” junior captain Arianna Preston said, “but she’s our first singles, and that’s crazy because she came from middle school and she’s now playing against seniors who are going to states.

Just 5 feet tall and 14 years old, Doughty is a powerhouse on the court. 

“She beat the first singles player from Aurora who has qualified for the district tournament and is contending to qualify for states,” Cira said.

She also beat a particularly intimidating Chagrin Falls player, Lyla Breeden, who Doughty recalls “was really tall and really good so it was really surprising I won, twice!”

Additionally, in September, Doughty was honored as Bison Athlete of the Week.

Despite all of her success, Doughty is humble. 

“I don’t think I did quite as well as I would have liked, but I think overall I had a pretty okay season.” Doughty explains, “Since this was my freshman year, I just wanted to focus on playing my best.”

Along with many players on the team, she will practice through the off-season. 

“I still go to tennis clinic; I go three times a week usually,” Doughty said. 

With so many young returning players, Captain Preston believes next year will be easier.

She says, “It won’t be a whole brand new varsity team.”

The tennis team’s 2022 season has certainly been unique, and it is clear that this young team’s success will only continue to grow.