Section champion, district runner-up and a trip to the state quarterfinals last season is not the best Lancaster Country Day's tennis team has accomplished. Players are optimistic for more with their No. 1 player returning after not playing last year because of an injury.
Players attending media day:
(from left)
Lianna Harkin, senior
Ella Davis, senior
Sienna Castelli, senior
Taylor Smith, senior
Castelli, a Cornell University commit, was Section 3 player of the year as a freshman and sophomore before missing her junior season. Team positions won't be decided for this year until practice starts, but the senior captains bring plenty of experience. Last year, Smith was No. 3 singles while also playing one or two doubles matches; Harkin was No. 5 singles and No. 2 doubles, and Davis, who started playing only sophomore year, was No. 7 but was able to play four or five varsity matches and got to play in States.
"We have our strongest player that didn't play last season," says Davis. "We're trying to, all of us, go as far as possible, individually and teamwise."
The players want to beat teams they've lost to in the past, such as last year's loss to Hempfield in the league tournament.
"I'd like for us to win States," says Smith. "I think that would be awesome. If think if our team works really, really, really hard, we can make it back to States again."
For Castelli, "playing No. 1 would be nice, but my goal has nothing to do with numbers. I just want to have fun and take everything match by match and just improve with every practice and match that I play."
The seniors agree the nature of tennis in the league varies with the opponent.
"Some of the schools are very cutthroat and are very like they want to win very much," says Davis. "And then some of them aren't as cutthroat and it's more just like they're playing for fun. But there's definitely a wide variety among the league."
For Smith, the thrill is in the highly competitive match.
"Last year I had a really fun match against another girl (she believes for Lancaster Mennonite) and we went on for like three or four hours," she says. "It was really entertaining, like we fought for every single point.
"Being able to play for that long consistently against someone who is actively fighting for every single point is so fun because you're just stuck in it the whole time."
The players particularly enjoy playing Lancaster Catholic because of the people they know playing on that team.
But this group also is busy off the court.
Smith is involved with mock trial, which starts competition right after the tennis season. She also is doing research on radioactive material in the Susquehanna River bed connected to plans to restart Three Mile Island.
Harkin is co-president of Feminists Unite Now, which she sees empowering women in her school community. For Davis, its guitar, flute, piano and she was co-head of the Prom Committee. Castelli is involved with Hugo Project.
LNP | LancasterOnline hosted Girls Tennis Media Day at its downtown Lancaster office to connect local media with Lancaster-Lebanon League players and coaches.
