Words: Maryam Elhabashy

The Centennial Tennis team has participated in eight matches so far, and from what we have seen, they have gotten off to a great start that hopefully foreshadows many great victories to come.

Their first match was against the River Hill team on Mar. 22. The girls left their home courts with a victory against the Hawks with three wins to two, but the boys lost after River Hill won one more eight-game set than the Eagles. The coach of both teams at Centennial, Ms. Erin Fisher, was extremely excited to announce the girls’ victory and applaud the performance of the boys’ team.

Fisher acknowledged that the girls’ victory over the Hawks at the match was the first victory she’s seen since she began coaching the Centennial team.

The second match was against the Reservoir Gators on Mar. 24. Both the boys and girls dominated their matches. The boys won 5-0 and the girls won 4-1.

Oakland Mills High School was also defeated in a match on Mar. 27. The girls won without a single lost set, and the boys won 3-2. The Eagles powered on to then defeat Hammond on the last day of March. The girls won 4-1 and the boys won 3-2.

A match against Glenelg then followed the Oakland Mills match. The girls defeated the Gladiators 5-0 and the boys suffered a loss of 2-3.

The Mustangs are the only team so far that has managed a victory over the Lady Eagles. The match battle between the Mustangs and Eagles was a tough one. The girls suffered a loss of 1-4 and the boys list 2-3.

However, the team made a strong recovery with a rescheduled game against Long Reach where the Eagles completely dominated with a 5-0 win for both the boys and girls.

Yesterday on Apr. 9, Atholton hosted a game in which the girls’ team won 4-1, and the boys came one game short of a victory when Atholton won 3-2.

Overall, the boys’ tennis team has four victories and four losses, and the girls’ tennis team has lost only one match out of eight.

Centennial has always been a big name in terms of tennis. In 2013, the boys won 10 matches and lost 5, and the girls only lost 4 of the 15 matches they played. Fisher recalled the successful season of 2012. “We had a girls doubles team make it to the state tournament. Last year we had a boys doubles team win the county tournament, place second in the regional tournament and 3rd in the state tournament. We also had a girls doubles team win the county and regional title and place 3rd in the State tennis tournament.”

Since then Centennial has lost many of its seniors and hence lost many of its top players. Fisher nonetheless has confidence in the 2014 team. “I am hopeful that both CHS girls and boys tennis will have a successful season.”

However, there are many obstacles that may lessen the ease of achieving these goals. “A lot of my athletes are involved in other school activities that conflict with practices and matches, so there is a lot of shuffling around and compromises being made.” That obstacle will not be that difficult to overcome because it is controllable. The bigger obstacle will be the one that no one can control and that is weather, which has significantly affected everyone’s schedules. Spring has been long overdue. Fisher herself reflected on the weather saying that the team has suffered due to the circumstances. “This season we have had significantly less time to practice and prepare for matches.”

Despite the hardships and difficulties the team is being faced with, Fisher is extremely excited to see what the season holds for the tennis team. “I am unbelievably proud of my athletes. I am excited to see the athletes learn and grow over the course of the season.” However, even though the team is doing extraordinarily well, there are many things that both the coach and players want to achieve by the end of the season.

Both the players and Fisher still have tournaments at the end of the season in which they don’t want to disappoint. More importantly, the teams want “to have a winning season for both boys and girls,” as Fisher mentioned. Fisher’s goals are to help the “players learn, grow, and become better athletes,” and to develop a team of “players feel successful and that they have made a positive.”