This season, the JV tennis team had a very good season-ending 4-4-1 in duels for the season. The players on the team had nothing but good things to say about how they performed and improved this season and Coach Timyan was very pleased with his team. 

They started off the season very strong with a home win against Northview then another tough fought win against Grand Rapids Christian. After that match, they traveled out to East Grand Rapids for one of their toughest matches of the season. Between EGR and Forest Hills Northern, they were going to have to play two of the top JV teams in the state.

Junior Eli Romijn had a few comments about how the season went. He said that this season was one of his most memorable tennis career because of the people on the team and the atmosphere around them.

“I learned this season that sometimes you have to step up and help those around you, and sometimes they have to step up and help you,” Eli said.

He noted how much the team came together and how they all stood up for each other. A great example of this was playing against Forest Hills Northern and East Grand Rapids. He summed up those matches with this quote:

“Those were some of our toughest opponents of the year, so what we learned about ourselves from those matches could be used throughout the whole season.” 

The Rangers then faced a very good Holland team, then had a very quick turnaround at Lowell, which was one of their toughest weeks of the season. Having to travel all the way out to Holland, then back to Lowell can take a huge toll on the team. They beat Holland 5-4, then took that momentum out to Lowell and won in another nail biter 5-4.

Next, was the second time of the season they were going to go head-to-head against East Grand Rapids. When they played EGR earlier in the season, they lost 8-1, but this time they had to come back stronger. They ended up losing 5-4 in a very tight match and Coach Timyan was very pleased in his team.

“The best example of how much the team improved as a whole is by looking at our two matches against East Grand Rapids. Our first match was not great; we struggled to even win a match and ended up with only one win. The second time around, our team had been working hard to get ready and we managed to win 4 out of 9 matches and had an incredible day. The work we put in was great and I hope the team continues to work over the off-season.” 

“This years team was different from the past two years, we had a much higher level of play and with that came higher expectations. Staying focused on improving our play, we had to work on strategy which meant a lot of work as a team and with such a big group it was difficult to keep everyone focused,” Timyan said.

As this season came to an end, Coach Timyan knows what he and the team will focus on heading into next season. 

“Next year we are going to focus even harder on our conditioning. It is a big focus because it is something that we can do as a team to improve and really get into it every day. By focusing more on that next year we are going to be one of the best JV teams on this side of the state because of our ability to run circles around other teams.”

They ended the year with a few wins giving them momentum heading into next season. A lot of the time, in any sport, getting a few key wins towards the end of a season can really influence how the next season starts. The team looks like they’ll be ready to go and to see what kind of season they can have next year.