By Kaitlyn Goldberg – Staff Reporter 

After a two year break, the Jonathan Law girls tennis season has officially begun.

Like all spring sports teams, the tennis season was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. The team hasn’t played in two years so everyone is excited to be back on the courts. 

“It’s been awesome being back on the courts, especially with this group of girls because they all work so hard and are such a fun group,” head coach Mr. Kulenych said. “We have a young team and not much varsity tennis experience, so it is going to be important to focus on the fundamentals as well as match play strategy to make sure the girls are ready to go.”

There are still certain restrictions that the team needs to follow but the team is trying to make it as normal as possible. 

“COVID has affected who we play this year since we normally play Division I and Division II teams, but this year we are only going to play Division 2,” senior captain Jenna Bagdasarian said. “We also can’t high five and it’s harder to cheer each other on.” 

As of April 19, the team is 2-0 with wins over Hamden and West Haven.

Singles players for those matches have been senior Lucia Pino, who was All-State as a freshman in 2019, sophomore Samantha Burns, Bagdasarian, and junior Diya Daruka. Doubles teams have been sophomores Sabrina Lawless and Caroline Doyle, juniors Sophie Maselli and Nihitha Kothapalli, and freshmen Olivia Hudak and Isabella Gejac.

Even though things aren’t the same as past years, the team is still practicing and preparing for upcoming matches.  

“The team prepares for matches and practice by doing group stretches and cardio, letting us do match play with the other teammates and encouraging us every step of the way,” freshman Faith Santiago said.

With the new season there comes new expectations for the team to thrive and become better.

“My goals for the team this season is to win as many matches as possible and to play our hardest every game,” junior captain Lucia Pino said. 

There are players of all different experience levels on the team and it’s important to the team that everyone learns and grows. 

“My goals for the season are that we continue to improve as a team throughout the season,” Kulenych said.  “We have All-State players on our team and we have players who are brand new to the game. It’s my goal to make sure that no matter their experience level, they are better players at the end of the season than they were at the beginning.”

The team also has not just team goals but individual goals to reach this season. 

“My individual goals for this season are to improve my volleys and serves and to also be able to rally for longer periods of time,” freshman Isabella Gecaj said.

The team is also striving individually to beat previous records and become better players overall. 

“My individual goal is to beat my past records and win as many matches as possible,” Bagdasarian said.