Hillcrest girls tennis tests its skills in Region 7

The Hillcrest girls tennis team hasn’t had a winning season for a while. The closest it came in the last five years was in 2006 when the first doubles team took second place in state. With Hillcrest now in Region 7, the girls want to change that. In the team’s first region challenge, the Huskies lost to Olympus, but not without a fight.

“Olympus won but every set was close,” said coach Jill Payne. “Some of the girls took it to a third match; some took it to a tie breaker. When we played Olympus, a lot of the girls didn’t have the attitude that they could win but after the first set, they realized they could win, they could start doing better. I anticipate the next time we play Olympus we will either tie or beat them in a couple of sets.”

Payne is new to the team this year and has been working over the summer to get the team’s skills where they need to be to compete in 4A. Most of the players are new to tennis and rarely pick up a racket in the offseason, she said.

“They don’t have the advantage of some of the other teams playing through the winter. But because of that they are stronger for it,” she said. “They have what it takes to compete and really put their hearts in it.”

The team has talented players and the best chance for state comes from first singles and both doubles teams. Karina Perez will challenge some of 4A’s best tennis players this year in first singles. As a newcomer to the sport, what sets Perez apart is her mental toughness, an absolute must-have quality for a good tennis player, Payne said.

Hillcrest’s doubles teams consist of Kate Berrie and McKay Fenstermaker and Megan Rinnach and Hannah Choi. Payne said these two teams are showing the most potential on the court. In every match, she said she’s seen them putting their skills into a strategy to win and relying on their mental toughness to get them through.

“Tennis is a mental sport; you are alone on the court,” Payne said. “At the high school level, the winner is usually decided on by whoever makes the least mistakes, not who has the best strokes.”

Kelsey Durrant is one of the captains this year and plays third singles. For Durrant and the other seniors on the team, this is the last year to show Hillcrest tennis is competitive. Changing regions and moving to 4A isn’t much of an issue Durrant said.

“Our region in 5A was a challenge but I think where ever you are, there are going to be challenges. I think we’re going to rise to it,” she said. “Olympus is a good team, but I think we are getting stronger by the day. I feel very confident in us. The idea other teams have that Hillcrest isn’t competitive is something you have to get past. It’s so much more rewarding when you do and it gives us an edge. I don’t know how this year will turn out but I don’t think people will be saying we can’t compete for much longer.”