Park’s girls’ tennis team was defeated by Chaska 2-5 in a match on Sept. 11. Despite a few individual wins from Park players, the team was unable to secure an overall match victory.
According to senior Adele Cormier, the team’s goal for this match was to simply play their best and keep a positive attitude. She said the score is not what the team should focus on, and their goal was to play a match they would be happy with.
“Our goal was mostly to play our best and try not to worry too much about the score. What really matters is that we feel confident and good in the match that we are playing,” Cormier said.
According to head coach Kevin Jones, the team’s performance was very good, and he was glad that they were all supportive of one another. Jones said the team played very well today, even if there were some tough times out on the court.
“I am glad that our team was able to rally around our players because that is what a team should do. The team played their hardest in all the matches, and that made the overall performance turn out well,” Jones said.
Junior Asha Ferrán-Sapatnekar said the team has traditions for before and after the match, including taking a team picture if they win their match, listening to music to hype themselves up and spending time together as a team.
“We usually celebrate together, no matter if it is a win or a loss. When we win in a game we usually take a picture and post it on the team Instagram,” Ferrán-Sapatnekar said. “When we have away matches, we play songs on the bus which makes the bus ride cheerful and lifts our spirits up on the way there.”
According to Cormier, she recognizes how important a growth mindset is during a match so she can move forward in the game. She said it is important to be in the moment, and she is going to try to remember that for the next match that the team has.
“Something that I learned from this game is that I can not get too into my head about things because once I start hitting a few bad shots, tennis is a really mental game, so I just need to keep my head up when things aren’t going my way and try to pick it up. It is also a good thing to remember for future matches,” Cormier said.
Ferrán-Sapatnekar said to stay level-headed and focused in a game, you need to prioritize taking the match in small steps at a time. Staying focused on the smaller parts of the match, looking at it from a wider point of view, can be very helpful.
“You just have to remember to take each game one point at a time because when you don’t focus on the overall score and you just focus on each individual point, you are able to feel more confident and succeed overall,” Ferrán-Sapatnekar said.
Jones said he was proud of the team supporting one another in the final stretch of the match. He said it is important to come together as a team during intense matches, and he is glad that everyone on the team was able to do that today.
“Everybody chipped in, and I really appreciate how in the final match, our team rallied around our player and also how our player stood up for herself. That is something that a team should do and I am glad they were able to show up for one another,” Jones said.
Ferrán-Sapatnekar said to improve for the next match, Park is going to work together and practice hard. The team typically has four matches a week, and Ferrán-Sapatnekar said they are going to focus on being dedicated and in the right mindset at each match.
“Before our next game, we are going to have a pep talk to really get us concentrated on succeeding in our next match. We will also make sure to focus during all of our practices and matches,” Ferrán-Sapatnekar said.
Park’s girls tennis team’s next match is against Chanhassen at 4:15 p.m. Sept. 16 at Chanhassen High School.
