Every afternoon, after school, there would be sound of multiple tennis balls hitting racquets and some occasional yelling from the coach at the tennis court. The tennis court filled with tennis players playing and practicing tirelessly for a variety of reasons, in addition to the drive to win a championship this season.

For freshman Joanna Yi, tennis provides both health benefits and fun. “I played tennis for my health and to have fun while playing my best.” A freshmen on Clark’s A team, she’s already been playing for four years. Her sister is girls’ captain Esther Yi, who says that she’s excited to have Joanna on the team, and that there’s a lot of potential for her improving over her next four years at Clark.

Sophomore Audrey Boch-Collins is Clark’s star female tennis player, and won the state title in singles last year. “I played tennis ever since I was 6 years old,” said Audrey. Complimenting her talents and dedication, she remained very modest. “She’s always a very humble person,” said the women’s tennis coach, Francie Angelov.

Rahul Gupte is another talented, sophomore tennis player who has been playing for eight years. This season will be Rahul’s first at Clark. He is excited for this season of tennis, and is training hard for upcoming opponents this season. “The only school I’m concerned with right now is Palo Verde. They’re going to be really good opponents.” Clark faces off against Palo in their second match of the season on Tuesday, August 29, 2017.

Junior manager Simran Shah says that he plays tennis for the competition, friends, and for fun. He also worries about facing off Palo Verde, but feels confident they can win.

“If we try our best and play hard, then I guarantee we can take the W.”

Senior manager Shan Reddy spoke about the team’s preparation this summer under Coach Chun.

“We trained a lot this summer, and Coach Chun taught us a ton of new skills – serve techniques, volley strategies, lineups – but he never taught us how to lose. We just don’t do it.”

Come out and support the Clark Chargers tennis team this season: the link to the 2017-2018 tennis match schedule is listed below.