Tennis season has finally arrived! This season is especially exciting due to the lack of Covid restrictions. The team has been practicing since the summer, working hard and honing their craft. Pre-season has started, and soon the tennis season will begin!

Wanting to see what the girls’ thoughts were for this season I conducted interviews with Freshman Gabi Arias, and Sophomore Liliana Villalobos. 

Q: How do you feel going into the first league game of the season?

Liliana: “Well most of all I feel nervous, but despite that I also feel excited. I’ve done all this practice so it’s time to make use of all that I’ve learned and try my best.” 

Gabi: “I feel excited, but nervous that I will mess up.” 

Q: How long are practices? Do you feel longer practices help with your performance during games? 

Liliana: “Practices are about 2 hours. Yeah, I feel like longer practices do help me, but not to the point where it’s overwhelming. If we practice too much, it can end up affecting our performance more in a negative manner than a positive one.”

Gabi: “Practices are normally 2 hours, and longer practices probably wouldn’t help with my performance because I practice 5 days a week, 2 hours each day.” 

Q: Do you play singles or doubles? Were you happy with what your coach chose you to play, why? 

Liliana: “I play singles. And yes I was very happy with my coach picking me to play singles because I feel like I play a lot better in singles rather than doubles. I like having the whole court to myself when I’m playing and I like how I don’t depend on anyone but myself.” 

Gabi: “I play doubles, and I am happy with my coach’s decision because I like how I can work with my partner and I don’t have to cover as much range.” 

Q: What’s your favorite part about tennis?

Liliana: “My favorite part about tennis would be how it makes me feel. How I can blow off some steam after a stressful day or how I can feel as part of a team, and be able to celebrate when we win and support each other when we lose.” 

Gabi: “My favorite part about tennis is the friendships I have built from tennis and I also enjoy playing tennis matches.”

After speaking with these two girls it seems like this year’s pre-season Tennis matches have been going very well. They’re putting in a lot of work and it seems to be paying off. Along with hard work, they’ve also created many bonds with their teammates. With good teammates and good work ethic it seems like the LHS Tennis team is heading towards a successful season. Make sure to go support the Lompoc High Tennis team along their journey!