The Tamaqua girls tennis program is moving in the right direction. Work ethic, expectations and hopes are all high for the Lady Raiders in the upcoming season.

Head coach Jennel Swenson, in her seventh season as head coach of the squad, is looking forward to seeing how this group of girls works together, in hopes of building upon the success of one year ago. Last year's squad (10-6), qualified for the team district tournament, only to be upended in the first round.However, one of the goals for this year's team is to improve on that mark, and in order to do so, the girls needed to put in the work during the off-season.According to Swenson, many of her players did just that."Some of the girls have been playing for us all four years," Swenson recalls. "Some of them went to camps, and some have worked with me, and I've been trying to stress to them to continue to hit in the off-season, and to put in more time and effort so that it pays off during the season.The girls have shown in the early-going that they have done that and hopefully it translates into some success."Without a JV team or a feeder program lending a hand to the Blue Raiders' tennis team, Swenson realizes the potential for a lack of experience in her girls. However, the 10 wins from a year ago, and the strong nucleus of returners to the team this season should help immensely with the incoming freshmen group that wants to be a part of the success."Some of the things aren't as easy as last season, because last year, everyone on the team was a returner to the team," Swenson said. "The girls knew what to do in practices, and things flowed a lot easier for me and them. With the new girls this season, I'm going over mechanics with them, and we have to take our time with it."Swenson is quick to admit that having the seniors on the team helps with the flow of practices, as the returning girls know what to do and they work hard at it, as well."Of course, I have to give attention to the upperclassmen and make sure they get the attention they need as well. So it's a little difficult to get to everyone on their different levels of play."According to the coach, the newcomers also benefit from the older girls and their on-court time with the experienced players."The upperclassmen have really done a nice job of taking the younger girls under their wing, and the younger girls spend a lot of time on court with the older girls, so it's been nice to see them all work together," Swenson said. "They're a good group of girls and it's nice to have them lead the way and show by example."Allison Pedersen and Maddie Davis will be vying for two of the top singles positions, and according to Swenson, they deserve the opportunity."They have really shown that they are stepping up and putting in the time on the court in the off-season, and summer time, whether it was camps, or hitting with me, or just practicing on their own," the coach said. "Pedersen has put in the time on her own, and from what I've seen, it has paid off so far. Davis went to a tennis camp this summer and that shows how seriously she is taking the sport. They have both put in the time and work that it takes to continue to improve and become something better."Looking at the schedule, Swenson is hoping that the team gels quickly, as the schedule demands some strong play on the part of her team. Being unaffiliated with a league, makes for adaptability in her team's approach to each individual match. With the format being decided at the hands of the home teams they face, there may be times when more players are being called upon to step into the starting roles."We've played a lot of the teams on our schedule in previous years, and the girls know what to do and hopefully, are able to adapt to the different formats and things as the season moves along," Swenson says. "We're hoping to get the girls experience early on in the season and continue to improve in order to maintain that high level of play."