A slight breeze impacted rallies as the Kougars did their warm ups in anticipation of Hanover’s arrival. The weather was finally feeling like fall was around the corner, with a couple boys even complaining about feeling chilly. Marching band could be heard in the distance practicing for the upcoming football game on Friday. The sun’s harshness faded much earlier than it has been – a subtle reminder that the season is getting closer and closer to the end. Boy, did it move quickly this year! On the JV side, many matches had long rallies that were broken only by placement shots being a little too sharp or the ball hitting the wrong part of the racket. The breeze from before started to pick up, meaning that many shots required quick adjustment. The Kougars that got done with their matches began to watch and cheer them on. During his playback singles match, Trey Ashby and his opponent had a lot of long rallies, with Ashby even saying, “This match is going to last forever!” Their match did indeed last quite a while, with a lot of great plays from them both. Many times their score ended up locked in a deuce for a while. Over on the varsity side, the Kougars played with focused confidence. Over the course of the season, the boys have worked really hard on their form, and it was apparent. #1 doubles had the longest match of the evening, with a very competitive second set. Nathan Hanson and Oliver Dutton made sure to keep their energy up. A major part of this was to take the time to celebrate their successes and shake off their mistakes with smiles. Healthy, positive communication is a key part of high level doubles play. They were able to pick up the last win of the evening, making the overall varsity score 5-0! While everything started wrapping up, Coach DeVries and some players started practicing their juggling skills and horsing around on the sidelines. Discussions about playing basketball or soccer on senior night this year started. Other players began inter-team matches to continue practicing their skills and having fun too. Even after the last match ceased, some Kougars stayed behind to keep playing! - JV Coach Lauren Anderson