Category Archives: Girls Tennis

Girls Tennis, Lauren Penington, Sports, Spring Sports

Starting Strong

March 10, 2020 Lauren Penington Leave a comment

With tennis season fast approaching, returning players reflect on the past years and their plan for the new season

By Lauren Penington

With last season welcoming a new coach for Legend’s tennis team, the girls had much to adjust to. As this season quickly approaches, returning players reflect on their past seasons to make plans to increase their success.

“Last year was my first ever season playing tennis, so I’ve made sure to immerse myself in practice a lot more. It’s no longer about showing up and hoping I do good, I’m putting in a lot more effort and working my way up,” sophomore Catie Mortimer said. “This season I really want to make one of the top JV teams and bond with my partner.”

Although the season is short, many girls have spent the offseason preparing.

“We have offseason practices and then we have practices from 5:30 to 7:30 am that I have been attending,” sophomore Alina Mali said. “I’ve definitely started practicing more on my own time versus only on official team practice times in order to improve a little bit more.”

The weather doesn’t hold these girls back at all. Many push through the winter season determined to come out on top in the season.

“When the weather is bad we play at the Parker racquet club,” Mali said. “Otherwise if the weather is nice and we want to practice on our own time then we use the Legend courts here.”

However, tennis itself isn’t the only thing the girls have been preparing.

“I’ve been exercising a lot,” junior Emily Schultz said. “I do workouts that aim for speed and agility. When I do practice for tennis, I make sure to give my full effort. I am more prepared for the competition there is this season and I’m hoping to go to Varsity.

Schultz isn’t the only athlete with competition in mind.

“Personally, I know that there is going to be a lot of competition,” Mali said. “I want to have more wins than losses so I can make it to Varsity. I’ve just been passionate for [tennis] since I was young and it’s really fun to participate in so I want to be able to go far this season.”

All the girls have been preparing for their season and their efforts are about to come to fruition. During tryouts, Legend coaches Guinn and Siers will assemble their top team in hopes of advancing farther this year. The coaches’ goals are to increase the team’s competitiveness. They hope this will result in an increase in the team’s standing within the league. Let’s see how far these Lady titans go, as their season begins.

Girls Tennis, News, Sports

Legend State Tennis

May 22, 2014 LT Media Leave a comment

By Andy Sidel

The Legend Girl’s Tennis team finished their season with 41 wins and 51 losses. Senior captain Natasha Williams and sophomore Haley Hildenbrand lost first round, 6-2 and 6-4, to Rocky Mountain High School at Colorado’s 5A State Championship Tournament.

“It was truly remarkable how they qualified,” said Coach Craig Marshall.

Williams and Hildenbrand beat Fairview in the final match, which was, according to Natasha, a thrilling match.

During the regular season, Hildenbrand and Williams played a similar match against Rock Canyon. The team displayed a relentless attitude while executing mid-court overhead smashes during a thrilling 3 set victory over the Rock Canyon team.

“They were down 3-5 in the third set and proceeded to win the next four games. They won the match against Fairview on a double fault,” Marshall said. “It was a great season and all of the players fought and deserved to be at state.

Girls Tennis, News, Sports

Girls’ Tennis gears up

February 26, 2014 LT Media Leave a comment

By Andy Sidel

Yesterday, Feb. 24, the Legend Girl’s Tennis Program began their season. Head boys’ tennis coach Craig Marshall is also the head girl’s coach. This year, in place of J.B. Miller (the previous JV coach), social studies teacher Tim Coit will be running the JV side of the team. With 52 girls trying out this season, some adjustments had to be made. According to Brittany Been, a junior, there are nine returning varsity players and roughly 16 or 17 overall returning players.

“There are so many players this year that Coach Marshall had to make some adjustments. There is a JV-1 team, a JV-2 team, and a JV-3 team. The JV-1 team will have the top 12 JV players. The JV-2 team will have the next best 12 players, and the JV-3 team will have the rest of the players,” Been said.

As with any Spring sport, the cold weather has a large impact. Today, the team had to practice inside due to the fact that it was windy, cold, and below freezing. Last season, the girl’s tennis team spent the entire first week of practice shoveling snow off of the courts. Each day, it snowed just enough to cause a need for a different type of exercise than playing tennis.

“Playing in the Spring can get very cold. But it’s worth it toward the end of the season when it warms up a little bit. I really like playing with all of my friends and its a great chance to meet people I wouldn’t normally have a chance to interact with,” junior Mary-Mac Carlin said.

The Titan Girl’s first match is on March 13 at 3:30 p.m. against Douglas County High School. The Varsity team will play at Railbender Park on Twenty Mile Road and the JV teams will play at Legend.

As the team gears up for the first match, they will be playing challenge matches, doing shadow drills, and helping one another to be the best.

“There is no true distinction between varsity and JV. Everyone cares about everyone and we get to collaborate and just have fun. That’s all it’s about,” Been said

Girls Tennis, Sports

Better Than Before: Titan’s Tennis Prepares for a Successful Season

March 13, 2013 LT Media Leave a comment

By Jenna Schuster

Although Legend’s girl’s tennis team has only been around for five years, they have slowly worked their way up to become a formidable opponent in Douglas County. With a new coach and a strong varsity lineup, this team is gearing up to become unstoppable.

Coach Craig Marshall went from an assistant coach to the head coach of the team in a single summer. Team manager junior Mitch Swim stated that “Coach Marshall is one of the most positive guys I’ve ever met, and his strategy for the season is going to have a good outcome.”

Coach Ben Wolf is also a new addition to the program. Junior Karlie DeBerard believes that “he has a completely different coaching style that’s helping the team.”

DeBerard is optimistic about the upcoming season. “I think we’re going to do a lot better than last season because we’re working together as a team and we’ve already improved so much,” she said.

Despite losing their tennis veterans to the graduating class of 2013, the team is ready to face a new season with vigor. “We have a lot of JV players from last year who are going to step up and be on Varsity this season,” said Swim.

The girls are really good at “holding each other accountable,” said DeBerard of the team’s strengths. They hope to get to state and have a winning record this season.

These Legend Titans are ready to play. They’ve come to the court to win this season. They’re “stronger, better, and faster,” than ever before said DeBerard.