By Karly Monson

The start of the 2014 tennis season swung into action Tues., Apr. 8 against Carroll Kuemper Catholic, boys staying at home and girls traveling.  Even though the teams played their hardest, both resulted in losing against Kuemper.

Senior Lisa Gearheart, #3 on the team, had the strongest match of the night, going into deuce 22 times in one game.  This resulted in a close game with a loss of only two points, the final score 6-8.  Senior Leah Tjepkes, #1, and senior Lexi Allen, #2, ended up losing their matches after a tough fight, Tjepkes 4-8 and Allen 2-8.  Allen said, “I feel like I played like crap, but will improve by having mental toughness and working hard everyday in practice.”  Other matches resulted in a loss from #4 Junior Grace Jacobs, 0-8, and freshman Jenna Brosam, 0-8.

Atlantic boys struggled to defeat Kuemper, ending the night with the final score 1-8.  Juniors Nick Podhajsky and Reid Nichols won their doubles match against Kuemper.  Senior Adam Wieser said he thinks that if the team can be more consistent with their shot selection they can beat anyone.

This was the first meet of the tennis season and even though it may not have gone the way the Trojans were hoping for, they are continuing to work hard everyday at practice for upcoming meets.  To know the Atlantic Trojans tennis team’s schedule, go to http://www.hawkeyeten.org/g5-bin/client.cgi?G5genie=470&school_id=70.