The De Soto High School High School tennis team has made big improvements through working on individual skills. They have been competing this fall in many tournaments and have become stronger players.

Junior Hallie Scott has been playing tennis since her freshman year and is now playing singles on the varsity team. She loves the aspect of individuality within tennis.

“I love how it’s different from other sports. We’re a team yet we get to play individually,”  Scott said.

DHS recently hosted and finished third as a team at the Wildcat Invitational on Sept 28, which had some ups and downs for some of the girls.

“I lost to Saint James Academy’s No.  1 singles player in a tiebreaker (8-7). The score was 7-3, which was heartbreaking because I had been ahead most of the game. But I ended up in third place for the tournament, which was my first medal for Varsity,”  Scott said.

By playing in multiple tournaments, the girls gain skills  by repeatedly being in competitive situations under pressure. 

“My goal is to continue to progress with my skill and learn things from every game I play,”  Scott said.

Junior Jenna Doran has been playing for the team since she was a freshman and has made many steps forward in her overall game playing doubles for the varsity team.

“I have improved on modifying my shots and learning new shots and angles and just overall being more consistent and skilled,” Doran said. 

As a team, the Wildcats placed second at the Lansing Quad on Sept. 26. Doran teamed  with her normal doubles partner, junior Hannah Hamilton, who had not recently been playing due to an injury, and ended up 1-2.

“It was my partner’s first meet back from her injury, so we hadn’t had the chance to really work together with each other, but we just made little errors. We tried to do many different shots and new ideas while we played and it worked for us,” Doran said..

The duo rebounded from Lansing to finish third at the Wildcat Invitational. 

Both Scott and Doran plan on playing for the girls’ tennis team their senior year and will continue to make improvements and work hard.

“I will for sure be playing tennis next year since it will be my senior year and I want to finish out high school tennis strong,” Doran said.