By Breana Aquino – Staff Reporter

This season marks the second of sophomore Anwita Puttam’s career as a player for the Law girls tennis team.

Puttam has been playing tennis for approximately six years, with both influences from her father and the team.

She joined the team last year as a freshman, gaining experience playing junior varsity matches the entirety of the season. Now as a sophomore in the current season, Puttam has been the recipient of broadening her skillset due to more challenging opponents the team was set to face.

“This season has been absolutely great,” Puttam said. “Since we’ve moved up a division, we’ve played a lot of harder teams, but we’ve been doing really well.”

However, this season was different for Puttam personally. She was able to bag her first varsity win while playing doubles with Senior Captain Siya Patil during a match against Lyman Hall.

Patil expressed how playing the match with Puttam was unpredictable, yet prevailed in the end.

“We had never really gotten many reps together during practice, so I was a little unsure about the outcome,” Patil said. “But we quickly adapted to each other’s skill levels, which helped us win our match.”

This feat in Puttam’s career was not only her first varsity win but also the first varsity match she has ever played for the team.

“Since I never played varsity before, and it was really last minute, I was kind of stressed,” Puttam said. “But we ended up winning in the end.”

Patil characterized Puttam to be a person with motivation.

“She is always ready to play, whether it’s stepping up to a spot in the lineup or cheering on for the team,” Patil said. “As a player, she is very focused during her matches and always perseveres through tough points.”

Puttam believes that she has made an abundance of improvement from the year prior to the ongoing one.

“Last year specifically, I didn’t have as much match experience, but I slowly got more used to them,” Puttam said. “I also improved my serve a lot with some help from (Coach) K.”

Head Coach Mr. Kulenych commended Puttam for the progress she has made from last season to the latest.

“Anwita got some valuable match experience at JV last season and came back a more consistent and powerful player,” Kulenych said. “She has helped us in varsity matches already, and I am excited to see how she continues to develop and improve the rest of the year.”

Puttam expressed how she hopes to continue her tennis journey with the same effort.

“I just hope to keep improving my game as I continue playing through high school,” Puttam said. “I want to also get closer and more involved with my team.”