TJ girls’ tennis gets a new start with a new coach and a new season.
Senior Naa Amorkor Amartey plays a good forehand for the TJ Tennis team. Photo by Clayton Bridges.
The Lady Spartans are six games into their season and have a record of three losses and three wins. With a new coach on the court the ladies are looking forward to a hopeful season. With six games under their belt they are thinking that things are looking up. With a tough schedule to start off their season, the ladies began with Legend High School, East High School and South High School. They unfortunately couldn’t bring home the win against any of those oponents.
The final score of the Legend match was 7-0. “I think that we lost because we over thought it because our coach is from Legend and he told us how good they are. So I think everyone just over thought how tough it would be. If we had gone into the match with a positive and clear mind we would have won,” Senior Naa Amorkor Amartey stated.
Following the Legend match was East, when the final score was also 7-0. “The main reason I think that we lost the East game was our volleys; playing net for doubles we don’t do very well. I guess that people weren’t playing to their full potential yet,” stated Junior Ronnie Bol.
After the East match the ladies then headed over to South High School to face off with the Lady Rebels. They also lost that round, with a score of 6-1. “At South, we all worked really hard, and I know that a lot of us lost in tie breakers, which is always the worst way to lose a set,” said a disappointed Bol.
The three wins came when the ladies went up against, Montbello, North, and Bear Creek High Schools. The ladies first took it to the Warriors with a score of 7-0. “I think that Montbello was an easy match, just because it was like the first one of the season. They aren’t our biggest competitor, so knowing that calmed us down a lot,” said Amartey.
TJ tennis then came out with the victory against the Lady Vikings of North High School with a score of 7-0. “The North game, I think that the only reason that some of us maybe lost a set was because we went into the game thinking that this is easy and we can do this, but North definitely put up a fight,” announced a very proud Bol.
When the ladies played Bear Creek next, they defeated them with a score of 5-2. It helped that Senior Brielle Cueva and Senior Naa Amorkor Amarety both won their single sets. “Winning Bear Creek we all freaked out; we all played very well and it was a proud day to play for the tennis team here at TJ,” explained an excited Amartey.
The ladies are very excited about their new coach, Brad Hatfield, who came from the Legend High School. “In practice Coach Hatfield helps us with what we were doing wrong and corrects it immediately. He doesn’t just make us hit the balls back and forth to each other,” said Bol. “At first I thought that this season was going to be laid back and easy, but he is definitely pushing us to do our best,” Bol state.
The Lady Spartans have had a lot of cancellations due to the weather lately. The season, however, is looking up for them.
Date: Time: Location: Opponent: Result:
3/19 4:00PM Away Montbello W 7-0
3/20 3:30PM Away Legend L 7-0
3/21 4:00PM Away Denver East L 7-0
4/04 4:00PM Home Denver North W 7-0
4/06 8:00AM Away Lincoln Invite
4/09 4:00PM Away Denver West
4/11 4:00PM Away Denver South L 6-1
4/12 TBA Away Bear Creek W 5-2
4/16 4:00PM Away Lincoln
4/18 4:00PM Home George Washington
4/23 4:00PM Home Kennedy
4/26 8:00AM Away Lady Rebel Invite
4/27 TBA Away Lady Rebel Invite
