The Fremd girls tennis team battled past the Palatine Pirates on Sept. 20, achieving the sought after sweep. The performance was marked by hardships and perseverance, and in the end the Fremd girls brought the win home.

Starting the match, head coach Scott Newmark had a new lineup in mind.

“We had injuries this year and this is our set conference lineup going forward and I think it’s going to be successful.” Despite the changes coach Newmark made, the team still showed grit and passion throughout the match.

One key example of this mentality on Fremd was freshman Sonal Matta. Matta played the meet with an injury and adapted well, not only to the injury but to the intrusive heat that day. She won in just over an hour, with a score of 6-1,6-0. After the victory, Matta commented on the tough match.

“I just took longer breaks and played more consistent,” Matta said.

Another key factor to the Viking’s victory was the coaching strategy coming in to the meet. Coach Newmark had to adjust to the heat and change his strategy accordingly.

“It’s all about knowing yourself, knowing your body, and knowing your opponent…some girls can handle the heat and some can’t, in doubles, the strategy stayed the same, stay aggressive, in singles, longer breaks, more consistency,” Newmark said.  

This change in strategy played out well across the team especially in key players such as junior, Jane Bodensteiner. Bodensteiner won her match respectively, 6-0, 6-0 and also adjusted her play to the windy conditions and heat.

“Adding spin to the ball helped and I was able to get it in,” Bodensteiner said.  

Despite this victory and the success the Fremd girls team has had lately, improvements still need to be made. Senior Diya Matta spoke about her win and some improvements she had to make.

“We tried to keep the points pretty short, so this helped us stay aggressive…in terms of improvement, I just need to make my second serve more and I’m just trying to make my first serve percentage higher,” Matta said.

Through setbacks and victories alike, the Fremd Vikings girls tennis team is constantly improving and Coach Newmark and the girls hope to achieve better than last years twelfth in state. Their next competitor comes in the form of Conant, who they will play at home on Sept. 27 at 4:45pm.

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