Park’s boys’ tennis team battled against the Hopkins Royals on April 17. The team was ultimately bested by the Royals, with an overall final score of 3-4.

Head coach Greg Holmbeck said that the team had more potential than they showed, and the match was difficult but hard-fought.

“The match was tough but winnable, and we came up just a little bit short,” Holmbeck said.

Sophomore Josh Fink said a change in attitude helped the team win more matches individually.

“One of the biggest things for me and a lot of us was getting in our heads about the wind and having longer matches,” Fink said. “Improving our mental state helped us win a lot of games and matches so far today.”

Senior captain Sam Wolden said an important thing the team had to adjust to was the unpredictable weather that spring brings, along with pushing through longer matches. 

“We had to adjust to the wind since it was a really windy day against Chanhassen last week,” Wolden said. “We had a lot of close matches, and a lot of them went to third sets, so we’re just going to push through the third sets today.”

Holmbek said the team did a great job working together and shouted out a few players individually. 

“I would shout out to the whole team because they really came together to support one another,” Holmbek said. “Sam Wolden had a big win, Josh Fink had a really tough but good win. The Peterson twins are eighth graders and it was their second match on varsity, and they won pretty easily.”

Fink said being in a good place mentally is an important factor and something that the team should be mindful of. 

“One of the biggest things for me and a lot of us was getting in our heads about the wind, and having longer matches,” Fink said. “Improving our mental state helped us win a lot of games today.”

Wolden said the team will improve as the season goes on, and that getting more comfortable playing will help them succeed.

“It’s early in the season — we have to settle in and the matches will go easier and more wins will come hopefully,” Wolden said.

The next boys tennis match is at 4 p.m. April 18 against Mound Westonka at the St. Louis Park tennis courts.