The term “rebuilding” is one that makes fans of professional sports franchises cringe as it usually means the team has lost their star player or players and will be forced to wait for the next prospect to arrive. High school coaches know this all too well as this problem presents itself every year once graduation comes along.
For Lenape High School girls tennis coach John Carnevale, this year will present that challenge in a big way.
“We will have a totally new line-up this year. We lost four players to graduation, one of our singles players will not be back this season and another who was a varsity alternate that won’t be returning,” Carnevale said. “Despite a new roster, we still have enough talent and experience to have a competitive season.”
The Lady Indians went 15–6 last season with a 6–4 record in their division.
While that team was more experienced, Carnevale still has high expectations for this season.
“Last year, we knew that we were a solid team and that we were going to compete. We felt that on any given day we’d be able to play against anyone and get a win,” Carnevale said. “This year is about having the confidence that we can go out and play against any team in our conference and win.”
Carnevale’s squad will turn to junior Lauren Gershman for leadership as well as a top performance on the court every match.
“Lauren played second singles last season and she earned first team all conference as well as Group IV all-star honors,” Carnevale said. “She is the favorite to be our №1 singles player this season.”
With a team that is in the middle of a rebuilding and retooling phase, Carnevale said Gershman has embraced the role of team leader.
“She’s stepped up in a big way and taken it upon herself to take a few of our freshmen aside and work with them, talk with them, just to prepare them for the upcoming season,” Carnevale said.
The other returning players for the Lady Indians are senior Melissa Olt, a singles player, senior Alyssa Lavin and sophomore Gabrielle Shvartsman, both of whom play doubles.
With six players not returning from last season, Carnevale said his team would look for contributions from incoming freshmen players not just down the road but also for this upcoming season. Two players are already showing that they are up to the task.
“Alexis Cao and Smriti Nao are our top newcomers who have looked great in practice and will most likely make the varsity team as freshmen, which is awesome,” Carnevale said.
With so many moving parts on the roster, preseason practice has been even more important. The Lady Indians began practicing Aug. 19 in preparation for the start of the season on Sept. 10.
“We’re still ironing out the details of what the roster will look like, but, as I said, even though we are ‘rebuilding’ we still have the expectation of competing and winning,” Carnevale said.
