On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, Leesville Road High School’s Women’s Varsity Tennis team traveled to Cardinal Gibbons for their first conference meeting of the season.
Leesville has a long-standing rivalry with Gibbons. The two schools have overflowing passion and competition during each meeting.
Tyler Cataruzolo, senior and Leesville student section leader, said, “[Gibbons is] such a school that we want to beat. We go extra hard.”
The tennis team was looking to defend an undefeated record against Gibbons from the 2023 season, but yesterday, came up short.
After four hours of hard-fought singles and doubles, Leesville lost 2-7.
Alexis Engelson, who played singles three, and Mia Caruanna and Maren Hauge, who played doubles one, were the only Pride players to come out on top on Tuesday.
Sara Hauge, senior and one of the Leesville tennis captains, said, “We are going to bounce back. We are going to do better. It was a misfire day and next time it could go either way.”
The team strives to give 100% during every practice and prepare mentally/physically before every match.
Hauge said, “I think next time we need to go in there more excited rather than nervous. Based on how the match went yesterday, I don’t think it is an indicator of what’s going to happen in two weeks.”
Alexa Jewell, sophomore and second-year varsity tennis player, said, “I noticed that we were kind of sloppy on our game…We are dehydrated.”
In the end, tennis is a sport about teammate support, mental toughness, and heart.
Leesville is scheduled to play Gibbons at home on Thursday, September 26, 2024.
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