The girls tennis season ended at the District Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 10 at Springside Athletic Club in Akron.

The team placed third in the CVC.

Both doubles teams advanced from Sectionals in Boardman on Oct. 1. The first doubles team of Charlotte Doughty and Amy Zhou, and the second doubles team of Maddie Spahler and Ida Chang. 

Additionally, freshman Ella Zoller advanced to Sectionals quarterfinals.

The team had much to be proud of this season.

“Personally, I feel like we all reached our best in terms of technique, stamina and mental strength,” junior Ida Chang said. 

“I’m excited for next season,” she added.

The team was led this year by senior captains Amy Zhou, Shreya Chellu and junior Charlotte Doughty.  

Coach David Cole started the season with a bang and took the team to Cincinnati the weekend before school started.

They played tough Cincinnati schools including Cincinnati Turpin and Cincinnati Sycamore. 

“We played Cincinnati Turpin and lost 3-2,” Cole said. “It was actually my fault. I made a bad lineup, otherwise we would have beaten them.” 

Their trip included a trip to Kings Island and attended the Cincinnati Open.

Cole believes the trip was a great success and set a good tone for the season. 

“The girls told me they just had a great time and they can’t wait to go back next year,” he said. “I don’t know if the kids always know it at the time, but the time they spend together at the tournament, in the van and in the hotel really brings them together.”

Zhou agrees. She found it inspiring to watch all the pros at practice since usually she can only watch them play through a TV screen. 

“Not only watching the tennis, but playing against Cincinnati schools and going to amusement parks with the team, our team just instantly became closer because of the trip,” she said.

Early in the season, Coach Cole set realistic goals for his team.

“I am very honest with my team, we’re not gonna win the conference because we can’t beat Hawken or Orange,” he said. “But my goal for this year is to get at least one or two players to districts out of sectionals, and that we beat every public school in Northeastern Ohio that we play, other than Orange.” 

His predictions seem to have been very nearly accurate.