Spring sports have begun and tennis is underway at DeMatha. Last year they had an amazing season, winning the WCAC championship after being the runners up in 2022 to Gonzaga. They hope to keep the momentum from last year and go back-to-back. Senior captain Graham Fenn is excited to start the season and get back onto the tennis court.  “Excited. Really excited,” he says.

In tennis, you have to be prepared to trail at some point during a match. Fenn talked about maintaining focus in the middle of a losing game. “Just gotta keep a positive mindset. I just tell myself that ‘you got it’ after every point.” He also prepares for difficult opponents by “just accept[ing] that it’s going to be a difficult match and I just gotta play well. If I win I win, if I lose I lose.” His favorite memory of tennis was winning WCAC’s last year and the thing he’ll miss most about DeMatha tennis is going out to eat with the team.

Senior Jacob Poole is also excited for the season to start. “I think that we have an opportunity to keep continuing to make DeMatha tennis a cornerstone sport in this school,” he stated. He keeps poor performances from affecting his confidence long term. “I honestly just try to remember that this is just a game and I won’t always play that bad.”

Poole wants to pursue tennis after high school. “I do see myself playing after high school,” he said. “I’m actually going to play in college and hoping to have a good jump in my skill level to potentially go pro.” His favorite memory about DeMatha tennis is the team dinners. “No matter the results, we still uplift each other and move on to the next match.”

His piece of advice to his younger teammates is “to always work hard and be humble because both of those virtues gets you far in life.” The season started Tuesday, March 12 with their first match against O’Connell. The team got off to a great start with a 9-0 victory over the Knights.