The Women’s Tennis team has been playing their way through tough matches while adjusting to a new coach and new team dynamics.

“I am excited to see how we do this year,” said senior Captain Caroline Stallings. “I want us to win and be successful, but overall to have fun, improve, and grow as a team.”

Coach Stacy Morgan has taken on the role of leading the team to victory. Although this is not her first time coaching women’s tennis, this is her first year as a Wolverine.

“I love the sport and want to support a continuation of the game at Wakefield High School,” said Morgan. “I was the Assistant Girls’ Tennis Coach at Sardis High School in Boaz, Alabama before joining the coaching staff at Wakefield. I coached the JV and middle school girls for the most part but had some responsibilities with the Varsity Girls as well. Although I haven’t played on a tennis team before, I do plan to get involved with a ladies team when our high school season is completed.”

Morgan has set a few goals for the ladies this year that she hopes she can help carry out.

“My goals for the year are focused on improving technical skills within the team,” said Morgan. “All of the Varsity girls have been involved (in some capacity) with tennis for several years. I wanted the girls to focus on improving the skills necessary to be able to challenge their opponents. I focused on achieving that by emphasizing ‘practice, practice, practice.’ Tennis is a sport that requires dedication and determination in order to improve. We work on drills targeted to help the players learn control, placement, and strategy.”

Although it can be tough adjusting to a new coach, captains and players agree that they have already built a bond with Morgan through team building activities such as team dinners.

“We really like her,” said senior captain Susanne Boyden.  “It’s a little bit easier to connect with her because she is a girl coach so we can talk to her about problems at school and what not

One of the changes Morgan made was forming a JV and a varsity team instead of only a varsity team like last year. This makes Wakefield one of the few schools in the Cap 8 that has a JV tennis team.

“I wanted to be able to keep as many players as possible to grow the program and encourage those players that were not necessarily ready to play Varsity,” said Morgan. “I feel it is important to give the JV girls the opportunity to play girls of like capabilities in order to improve. I also provide drills for the JV players to improve skills needed to move up to Varsity. It is important to get the next group of players ready to fill in positions left by our Senior girls.”

For girls who have been on this team years prior, this new team dynamic could be difficult to adjust to.

“Our practices and matches are separate,” said Stallings. “In the past we have had a bigger team and I liked that better, but now it is more of a smaller team. We all know each other better, and  having players that are closer in age and experience helps us be closer as a team.”

Through all of the changes, the captains are still doing their best to stay focused and keep the team motivated.

“I just hope to encourage everyone,” said Boyden. “Teams typically tend to do better when they are really close, and the captains are the ones who make the team close or get the energy going. The last couple of years we’ve come a couple matches short of making playoffs so I hope this year we can make it.”

Players agree that the captains’ and coach’s motivation helps them play their best.

“They are really supportive,” said junior Hanna Anderson. “They watch all of our matches until the end and always cheer us on while we are playing.”

The coach, captains, and players plan to continue to get closer and hopefully make it to playoff this season.

“I encourage the players to be the best they can be,” said Morgan. “I have enjoyed getting to see so much improvement in skill level on the team. It is a joy to see the girls playing at a higher level by the end of the season.”