Lincoln Park’s girls’ tennis season has officially come to an end, wrapping up months of matches, practices, and many memories. This year brought both returning players, and new faces, all working hard to improve their skills and power through a long and competitive schedule.
And now that it’s over, I wanted to hear from a few of the players, along with Coach Harmon. Everyone had a different experience, so I decided to discuss their individual seasons.
For the seniors, this season meant a lot being their last. Bella Colatriano, our number one singles player, said, “I think we had a really good season, and I’m very proud of how everyone did. Especially for me and Maddie [Harper] because we qualified for the WPIAL Section 4-2A Girls’ Doubles Tournament for the first time.”
Bella is looking forward to the future and hopes to stay involved with tennis by possibly coaching the team.
“I hope to come back and help coach Lincoln Park’s tennis in the summer,” she said.
As her final season ends, she reflects on how much the sport means to her.
“I’m honestly really sad because tennis became a sport that I love.”
Despite the victories and hardships the team faced, what stood out most to Coach Harmon was the teamwork and effort the girls showed.
“The most memorable thing for me is how much fun people have—during the match, cheering each other on, and even after we go to get food,” he said. “It’s the camaraderie on the bus, hearing everybody laugh and have a good time. That stands out more to me than any win or loss.”
Looking ahead, he plans to focus on improvement, unity, and making the playoffs.
“The biggest goal is to keep getting better every time we play and to make the playoffs,” he said. “Our mindset is that we’re going to win every game we play. If we don’t, we don’t. But we want to be a tough out for anyone we face.”
Vera Meider discussed her first year playing varsity and what it meant to her.
“I’d say that this season was pretty good. I liked being able to play for varsity for the first time with my fantastic doubles partner Sophia [Giles], and I enjoyed doing tournaments.”
Lastly, we hear from Charleigh Book, who played third singles for the first time this year.
“I think it went pretty good. I progressed a lot, and I feel like the entire team as a whole just got better than we were.”
Her favorite memory came from dining at Eat ‘n Park after a successful team win.
“We all just had a really good time talking to each other and actually getting to know each other as people and not just teammates . . . And stealing from the salad bar.”
Looking ahead, she plans to continue practicing in the offseason.
“I plan to progress, hopefully stay in singles, and grow as a player overall.”
No matter the circumstances, this season showed a lot of effort and improvement, and hopefully that’s something to carry into next year.
Thank you for reading my column! If you have any questions, or stories you’d like to next, just leave a comment or email me: @[email protected].
