Boys’ JV tennis defeats Chaska

First match under belt

Sophomore+Nate+Schwietering+serves+the+ball+April+22+at+the+first+match+of+the+season.+

Zoe Ziessman

Sophomore Nate Schwietering serves the ball April 22 at the first match of the season.

Rachel Arkis and Abby Bartleson

After weeks of matches being canceled and having indoor practices due to weather, the JV boys’ tennis team finally had their first match. According to coach Andres Gamero, despite the setbacks, the team has worked their hardest to stay committed.

“I saw how everyone played and (how) everyone worked hard. We’ve been behind these first couple of weeks because of the weather, so their commitment is very impressive,” Gamero said.

According to sophomore Vincent Cormier, the team has adjusted to the weather and he can feel the season start to go back to normal now that the team is done with their first match.

“(The season has been) good, the first match is out of the way. It’s going well, we’re off to a good start and (there has been) a lot of rain so far, but that’s alright,” Cormier said. “We’ve been having practices indoors and all the practices have been going smoothly.”

Freshman Josh Fink said that although he came out on top in his matches, there are still things he will work on to improve on.

“I could be a little more consistent on some of my groundstrokes,” Fink said. “Some of the time I missed some of the easier shots I probably would’ve made if I wasn’t so aggressive.”

According to Cormier, in order to better prepare for Park’s next match, he will focus more on being mentally ready to play.

“I could have prepared better for the match,” Cormier said. “I wasn’t really mentally there until I really got into the match.”

Gamero said that the best thing for the team to do to improve is to practice outdoors and gain experience playing matches.

“We’ll try to get those matches in. We’ll try and get some more outdoor practice in and just keep working on the things that we need to keep working on,” Gamero said.

The next JV match is at 4 p.m. May 2. at St. Louis Park High School against Hopkins, varsity is away at Hopkins High School.