The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the writer and do not reflect the views of University School of Nashville or the Peabody Press.
I have been playing on the USN high school tennis team since freshman year. When I first started, I was so focused on proving myself and trying not to make any mistakes on the court. It was easy for me to get overwhelmed and feel pressured when there are people watching on the bleachers, and I am responsible for everything that happens on the court. There are no teammates to help you when you are on the court; however, playing at USN taught me that tennis is much more of a team sport than people realize.
This year was my final year on the team, and the most ambitious season during my high school career. We started playing in scrimmages at the River Campus in February, and although it had been a while since we had all played on the team and some of us had never played together, we quickly found our rhythm and were winning against high level teams. While the line up would occasionally switch depending on who was able to play that day, everyone swiftly adapted to change and did their job on the court. These scrimmages were just friendly matches, but they brought our team together and set the tone for the rest of the season.
We continued to improve and connect as a team with every practice, and then came the Rotary tournament in Chattanooga. We stayed together at a hotel and did things together like stopping at a rest stop to watch the sunset the first night and getting pizza together the second. We ended up winning the match, but what I remember more than the victories is how we cheered each other on. It was extremely hot, and we were all exhausted after our matches, but we continued to go from court to court cheering each other on and giving one another motivation to keep playing our best. This tournament highlighted how much we cared for our team and wanted each other to succeed, and this was just what we needed to go into the district season.
The team would spend afternoons and evenings after school playing district matches at the River Campus. We were in a new district this season, so we were playing many teams that we had never played before. We were able to win the district and became district champions, and during this season, we also had other matches like a scrimmage against Harpeth Hall and the Hendersonville tournament. These outside of district matches helped us get ready for regions. We played difficult teams like BGA and FRA that we had not played yet in the season, but we felt prepared because of how connected we felt as a team. We knew how one another played, and we knew how to motivate each other to play our best. In the region finals, one player went to a tiebreaker set, and this would make or break the match for us. We all cheered her on from the sidelines, and she ended up winning. We all ran to her court and celebrated with her.
My senior tennis season felt complete after becoming district and region champions; however, we still had state to compete in. We won our first state match, which took us back to Chattanooga to compete in the state semifinals. I was convinced that our victory in Chattanooga in the beginning of the season was good luck for the end of the season. When we got to the hotel, we had our own Spring Sports Recognition Night in the lobby because we had to miss the one at school to go to state, and then we all went back to one hotel room and watched Netflix. I found myself not even thinking about the match the next day because of how much I enjoyed being with the team.
The next day was hot, and our singles matches were all tiring, but we only had a few minutes after our singles matches to compete in doubles against Knoxville Grace Christian Academy. After a long match, my doubles partner and I were the last people on the courts, and it was up to us to win the match. We were hot, exhausted, and our spirits were low, but we had so many teammates, coaches, and parents cheering for us on the bleachers. The match got to a tiebreaker, and we encouraged each other to keep playing our best despite how we felt. We were able to pull off a win, and our teammates came onto the court to congratulate us when we won. We then all went out to eat to celebrate and reflected on and laughed at the craziness of the match.
We ended up being the state runners-up because of our loss to Lausanne the next morning, and we felt very accomplished with our season. I was excited for my senior tennis season at the beginning of the year, but I did not expect how close our team would have gotten. I now know the importance of having encouraging teammates, and I learned that tennis truly is a team sport.
