Another year, another dominant season for Western girls’ tennis. As players graduate and new faces join the team this spring, the tradition of winning stays constant for the Warriors. After returning just two starters this spring, the Warriors faced an uphill climb just to get the team prepared to challenge for a state championship. “I think we want to get to states and hopefully win, the past few years we’ve fallen short so we believe that we can win this year,” said junior Hannah Kearns.

Anna O’Shea, a junior and third in the singles lineup, is happy with the way the team has overcame adversity to this point and going forward. She says, “We have a lot of young talent this year, which helps, and a lot of the team plays at Boar’s Head in the offseason.”

The team has already faced and defeated one of the toughest teams on their schedule when they beat Handley High School on Friday March 24th. The Warriors are riding high on an undefeated season right now, and they will try to keep that going with roadblocks against strong foes Albemarle, and EC Glass High School at the end of the season.

Hannah Kearns, after assuming the top singles spot this year, has anchored the team by setting a winning example at the top of the lineup. Kearns is confident in the team’s abilities to win with the starting lineup this year.  “We have a really good team all the way through the lineup, it’s a really deep team which allows us to win all our matches.”

This year the team includes two foreign exchange students,  Giulia Schiaretti and Claudia Jorgensen. Their impact on the team is huge as they occupy the final two starting spots for singles. Together they have helped Western to an undefeated season so far, while keeping an eye toward bigger goals.