The Chardon High School Boys’ tennis program has been rebuilt over the past year and the results are largely positive.

This year CHS physics teacher, Mr. Robertson, previously the girls’ coach, was hired to be the boys’ head coach aswell. He implemented an optional off-season training program for players. The program’s main goal was to increase stamina and agility, two important aspects of tennis. Mr. Robertson said, “I had a fairly good turnout; it was consistent. A lot of people are excited to get better. Player’s are starting to see that tennis is a physically demanding sport and should be taken seriously.” CHS junior and varsity player Matt Morrissette added, “I would say it prepared us better than last year. It did help.”

Each match consists of three singles matches followed by two doubles matches. In a singles match, one player from each team faces off in a set of games. Doubles is played the same way, but with two players from each team. CHS senior Joey Casavecchia said, “I prefer singles because you can play your game. It’s easier to find out what you’re doing wrong and fix it when you’re playing singles.” Billy Weaver, CHS senior, offered an alternate opinion, “I like playing doubles because it’s good to have a teammate to fall back on.”

The tennis season lasts from Monday, April 8^th, to May 14th, but so far the team has only played in three matches: none being in the PAC. Unfortunately five matches have been rained out over the two week. CHS junior Trevor Marthe lamented, “I was very disappointed because I was extremely excited to play the first matches of the year.” The team won their first match against Edgewood and lost their second to Perry. The team will face some tough competition. Casavecchia commented, “The team to beat is Geneva. They won PAC last year. They’re consistently good and are solid at all five spots.” Despite the strong opposition, the team is optimistic about the season ahead. Weaver said, “I think it will go pretty well, Robertson is a good coach and he’s teaching us a lot of new useful skills.” Marthe added, “I think it’ll go great! The team is solid and so is our tennis intensity.”   Casavecchia predicted, “We have a packed schedule but I see us being able to place 2^nd in the PAC.”