Most of the 70-plus players who participated in the Xavier Prep freshman tennis program in the fall came away with confidence and enjoyed the experience while awaiting to decide what their next steps will be as they move through their remaining three years.
The two
higher skill-level teams, the Blue and the Green, combined for a 13-7 record
with a about two dozen or so refining their skills. The remainder of the 40 players,
most at the beginner’s level, learned quite a bit during their intense-yet-fun
sessions each Friday.
“I think
that Fridays were the most fun for the girls,’’ said co-head coach Karen
Fleissner. “I think they came away feeling good about themselves.
“Some of
these girls have the skills and confidence that they will be able to try out
for the varsity (in the spring).’’
Fleissner
joined the program as co-head coach and worked with co-head coach Judy
Hernandez assistant coaches Barbara Holcomb, Amy Gallo, Ford Oliver Jr., Lara
Murphy and Meg Yuan.
Fleissner
had been, and remains the boys’ coach at Phoenix Arcadia in the spring.
She said her
way of doing things at Xavier wasn’t much different than what she had been
doing previously with the other program.
“We had two
competitive teams here, and on top of everything it was a little more hectic
due to the numbers, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle,’’ she said.
Fleissner
said she has always enjoyed working with players at the grass-roots level and
monitoring their progress.
“The more
competitive ones have a lot of athletic ability,’’ she said. “I enjoy watching
them develop their footwork which is a very important aspect.’’
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