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Coach Loeb talks to junior Phoebe Boeschen and senior Sophi Farid before their matches. Photo By Sophie Whyte

“They practice every evening,” Caryn Boeschen, parent of tennis player and RBHS junior Phoebe Boeschen, said. “Coach Loeb is really good … the teams that [the girls] play are very good teams, and that just makes them better because they have to rise up to that instead of playing teams that would be easy to beat.”

The hard work and perseverance paid off for the girls after the tough game; the team has been practicing every weeknight, even back in August before the school year started. There are also times when the team comes early in the morning to practice as well. All the practice is geared towards their goal of being ready for any and all matches.

“We’ve had a lot [of matches] this week,” junior Lexi Hoffman said. “Junior varsity had a tournament on Wednesday, and we went to Quincy on Monday.”

Multiple meets with long practices often lead to exhaustion for some of the players. It can especially be difficult when traveling to different places for matches causes the team to miss classes.

“Being on the tennis team makes you miss a whole bunch of school,”  junior Emily Reynolds said. “I’ve missed about seven days so far. Some full days and a couple half days. That’s rough, especially on your harder classes when you miss those.”

While it takes a lot of time and extra effort to practice and compete against strong teams, the  Bruins are steadily improving. The long week ended positively after a good win on Friday.

The team will continue its daily practices to prepare for future meets in hopes of more success. Generally, there are two meets a week to help improve the girls’ skill. The season closes with districts, followed by state, which is in late October.

By Sophie Whyte