This year’s girls’ tennis season, coached by Alex Bollmeyer, has been improving all season long. 

High school tennis has different scoring systems at different meets depending on how many tennis courts the host school has, the weather, and the number of players each team has. Some meets they might play “Best Two Out Of Three Sets” and other times they may play “Pro-10” or “Pro-8” set match.  

Bollmeyer shared, “Generally in each ‘game’ played, the first girl to win four ‘points’ wins that game. There is a predetermined number of games that are needed to win the set or the match, that’s where the scoring system used that night comes into play.” 

There usually is nine or 11 matches played at a meet and the team with the most won matches wins the overall meet. Since the score system is a factor needed to be determined before each meet, it can be very difficult at times to understand. “Learning the scoring systems is often one of the biggest challenges for new players,” Bollmeyer stated.

This season, the girls’ tennis team has been lucky and have played at every meet this season except two. At meets, there are typically only six courts to play on. They usually start with six varsity singles matches. As those matches finish, they begin the varsity doubles matches when there is a court available. After all the varsity doubles matches have been completed, they start the junior varsity doubles matches. Then they continue rotating through singles matches as courts become available.

To prepare for meets, their practices are typically outside after school unless weather prevents them. Unfortunately, this spring has been cold and windy, which makes it difficult for new members of the team to learn tennis and to be able to practice. For a lot of the girls on the tennis team, their first time trying tennis is on the high school team. Due to the wind, the ball can be blown all over the court making it hard to follow the ball and be able to practice.

Bollmeyer mentioned, “This has, by far, been the coldest and windiest Spring we’ve had to play in during my eight years of coaching.”

Although practices have been difficult due to the weather, they still are a lot of fun for the team. Since COVID-19 canceled last year’s season, there has been a lot of improvement this season from the girls learning at practices and meets that they were unable to learn last year.    

Lastly, Bollmeyer stated, “I always say there aren’t many things better in life than being a part of a team, and this team is a great example of that. They are awesome and the girls create a great environment to be around every day.”