At the end of the first year in the new conference, the girls’ tennis team played its last match against Benilde, finishing fourth out of eight teams in conference.

Carey Hermanson, the girls’ varsity head coach, said she is happy about the new conference and about how the season finished up.

“I really like the new conference. It’s more evenly balanced than before and there are more teams that push us to compete,” Hermanson said.

Despite losing its last match 2-5 against Benilde, the girls’ varsity team finished with a record of 5-7 and saw improvements at the end of the season in sections.

“We beat Southwest 6-1 in our first round of sections,” Hermanson said. “We improved from earlier in the season when we beat them 5-2.”

The season ended for the team when it played in the second round of sections. They played Edina, the team ranked first in state.

One team member qualified to play as an individual in sections. Individuals can play in sections even if their team loses if they are deemed to be a state contender by their coach and other coaches.

Sophomore Natalie Lorentz, ranked sixth in state during the season, took fourth place in sections after qualifying to play as an individual.

“I was ranked fourth in conference after losing to a girl from Wayzata who was ranked third in state,” Lorentz said. “I did better than last year, so I’m happy about how it turned out.”

Along with making individual improvements, Lorentz said the girls’ varsity team made improvements and played better at the end of the season compared to last year.

“Next  year I’m hoping to make it to state,” Lorentz said. “I think I’ll have a good shot next year because a lot of good seniors are leaving.”