The St. Peter’s tennis team’s new season is under way. With a challenging schedule ahead, they are ready to compete.
“We’ve already faced some tough competition this season,” stated head coach Dave Flemming. “We played against the three toughest teams [Willard, Shelby, and Galion] in the sectional right off the bat going 0-3, but that doesn’t surprise me since we’re not as big of program as the other schools. And we have a nice team. We’ve got a bunch of very nice young ladies working hard and so I’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”
The Lady Spartans’ team is made up of seven returners and five beginners.
Coach Flemming stated, “We’ve got good leadership from our senior captains Katie Larsen, Katie Kowalski, and Olivia Kastelic.” All of whom have participated in tennis at the high school level for the past three years.
Larsen has achieved the first singles playing position, last year playing in third singles. “It’s harder playing in first singles because there are a lot of good girls,” she commented. “But hopefully I’ll have a good record and have fun with the girls.”
Katie Kowalski and Olivia Kastelic both participate in first doubles. Kowalski mentioned, “We lost three of our best players last year so the seniors definitely had to step it up and get the team excited for the season.”
Kastelic stated, “Our team is really new, but it’s going well. I really hope to get to sectionals with Katie at Shelby this year.” Last year, the doubles players did not advance after the second match, and so this year, they’re hoping to end their last year with greater success.
In addition to the senior leadership, Coach Flemming noted that the team has some quality freshmen players on the rise, Natalie Guisineer and Natalie Zitco.
“They’ve been improving since we first started,” said Flemming, “We’re getting better because the competition is better.”
