Pennridge Men’s Tennis: What You Need to Know About the Up and Coming Sport

Francesca DiGiovanni, Student Writer

The Pennridge Men’s Tennis team is a fairly new addition to Pennridge athletics. Due to lack of coverage, the team flies under the radar and many students don’t know much at all about the team. The men’s tennis team is composed of 25 players and is led by coach Aaron Rapsinski, who is also a teacher at PHS. He has been coaching the team for the last four seasons. In their most recent season, they had a fairly underwhelming record (2-10 to be precise), but players and coaches alike urge the public to not count them out just yet. The team has welcomed many new players and is excited for a fun and successful season. 

However, the conference Pennridge is in is not necessarily the easiest. Coach Rapsinski explained how multiple kids from other schools often make it into the state rankings. But there are more important things in sports. Winning is always great, but what matters most to the players is having a great time with friends. Coach Rapsinski says that “kids cut from other sports join tennis just to play a sport during the spring and show up during the season”, as players on the team can participate in a high school sport without the intense pressure and commitment that usually come with it.

“First seed” player Connor McOwen’s plans for the season are as follows: “win every match”. Some may say that is an idealistic goal, but with enough hard work this team can definitely improve their numbers. Losing stand-out seniors like Nik Duke, Nolan Jameson, and Joe Ereifej last year definitely took its toll, but team newcomers are optimistic they can make up for their absence. The team had an excellent turnout at tryouts, with just the right amount of players. No cuts had to be made. Connor was quite surprised to see how many guys came out for tennis this year, as kids from all four grades showed up. Not only is it good for Pennridge athletics, but it is also great exercise.

Their next match takes place March 13th, and they will be taking on Hatboro Horsham at home. The conference Pennridge is in is tough, but expectations are high. Men’s tennis could use a crowd to liven up the games and it’s always important to show school spirit. If you have never been to a tennis match before, the game goes as follows: there are three sets to a game, and to win the match a team must win two out of the three sets. Essentially, there are six “games” and a team must win by a margin of two or more to be the match winner. While matches may go on for longer periods of time, there’s always action going on, as most of the time, all six of the tennis courts are in use. Ranging from “just for fun” matches, to much more competitive matches, all members involved have fun and enjoy the nice weather. Hopefully, Pennridge students are there to watch the team work for a win, as well as work towards improving as a collective. Get to the court and support the team!