Building Petaluma High tennis girls gunning for Analy

Second-year head coach John Barone is excited about the team’s prospects as he focuses on the future.|

The Petaluma High School girls’ tennis team has begun its quest for a Sonoma County League championship with a record of 3-1. The Trojans were league runner-ups after falling to Analy High School last season, and are only getting better.

Grace Davis, senior, is the team captain and top singles player. Sophomore Erika Gilmore, junior Alaisa Barone and sophomore Christina Lang complete the competing singles players, while the doubles teams are led by duo of Mary Manzano and Diana Trueblood.

Second-year head coach John Barone is excited about the team’s prospects as he focuses on the future. He recognizes that the Trojans may not have a perfect team right now, saying, “In time we can be rather competitive. Even now, the girls are chasing Analy’s Tigers, who handed them their only loss of the season so far.”

The rivals will meet again Oct. 6, However this time, the Trojans will be defending their home court. Davis believes in her teammates’ capability against what coach Barone called a “formidable opponent.” She said, “Our girls are making improvements every match. On any given day anything can happen.”

Despite the individual nature of the sport, the tennis players thrive on the energy of one another. “One of the things that I encourage, and we develop is team spirit. Although this is an individual sport, we all help each other. We all support one another,” said Barone.

Davis highlighted the upside that this type of team relationship brings. “Our commitment to one another makes a huge difference at matches. We cheer each other on, and support each other no matter what.” She said, “We are one big family.”

Another unique advantage for the Trojans is simply the fact that they have 24 girls on the team. Other schools often have trouble recruiting players to join girls tennis, but at Petaluma, “We have a lot of interest in the sport. It’s fantastic,” said Barone.

This allows for great opportunities in terms of developing young players for the future, as well as having options to rotate players into the second and third doubles teams, which are currently undecided.

Much of the interest lies in “Appreciating the Petaluma girls varsity team history,” said Davis. This goes back to the late, great Sarah Wadsworth, who coached the team for 26 years, which included a winning streak that spanned more than three years and led to numerous titles. Davis is particularly excited that the current players “Have a lot of strong, dedicated girls that will keep the legend alive.”

For now, the focus of Barone and his players is to give as much effort as they can in each match and work their way toward a successful season and hopefully a championship.

They are poised to accumulate success and momentum as they embark on a new era of Trojan girls tennis.

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