The Allderdice Girls Tennis team is fighting for their first playoff spot since joining WPIAL. It has been a long road for the Dragons this season with many exciting moments, and everyone is excited for the future of the program.

This year was a year of firsts. For the first time since joining WPIAL, the team has beaten Baldwin and Thomas Jefferson. This is also the first year that the team is fighting for a playoff spot. Mr. Goldman, the coach of the team, is excited to see “how we handle the adversity of the rest of the season,” as the next 3 matches are crucial for the playoff spot.

Goldman is very excited about the players on the team. With a starting seven that includes two senior captains and four freshmen, he can look to the upperclassmen to lead and teach the younger players. Goldman claims that the two biggest successes of the year so far have been the “amazing senior

leadership on and off the court” and “the abilities and strong work ethic of the underclassmen and new players.” He especially wants to mention that “some new upperclassmen have joined and made a significant contribution as well.”

Senior captain Anna Marks has been very excited for the future of the team. “This year we’ve been more competitive in our section, but more importantly we’ve become a much stronger and tight-knit team that really does feel like a family,” she said.

Goldman had a similar outlook: “The girls have been seeing each other outside of practice and team events… It’s like a family. I couldn’t ask for more.”

The companionship can really be seen by the actions of senior co-captains Lauren Haffner and Chloe Ruben. They designed bracelets for Suemari, an Allderdice student that passed away last school year. Lauren says that the team was “brought luck” by the bracelets. (The day they came in, the team won their match.) The bracelets help the players remember Suemari’s enthusiastic cheering and that she “was one of the most supportive people,” said Lauren. “Keeping her memory alive was really important to me, as the whole team now remembers her together.”

Goldman stressed the importance of team effort, which he has been pleased with so far. “Results are good. Hard work ethics are good. Camaraderie is good.” When asked about the rest of the season, he said, “I know for sure that our team won’t be out worked or out hustled.”

By this time this is printed, the rest of the season will be over, but Goldman is excited for the last three matches against Plum, Penn Hills, and lastly Oakland Catholic

Anna Kogos, a freshman who plays one singles, is looking forward to the future Allderdice Girls Tennis. She credits this year’s success to the great team chemistry saying, “We have a good bond between us which makes us a strong team.”

We can only look forward to the rest of the season and for future seasons to see what the team can do. Results this far have been promising, and the team is working hard to lock in the playoff position.