Returning from a successful season last year, the Lafayette girls tennis team has big shoes to fill. 

“I would say winning Districts, getting players into individual State and team State Tournaments [is our goal],” Head Coach Emily Pestka said.

The Lancers ended the 2023-2024 season with a record of 15-3 and a 3rd place finish at State with Class of 2024 graduate Amber Yin, becoming a State Champion. Pestka expects to play even better this year.

“We will focus more on our doubles, [we will] find the best people who work together for doubles matches,” Pestka said, “We play a three doubles, six singles format so getting those doubles wins alleviates some of the pressure going into singles. That is something that would help us against our tougher opponents.”

Junior Mia Yin is excited to play with her team again.

“We’ve bonded quite a bit these past weeks and we’re definitely feeling energized for competitive matches,” Mia said.

Along with Mia, Pestka says there will be a lot of seniors making a big impact on the team this season.

“There’s five seniors on the team: Madi Pfeiffer, Olivia Dornhoefer, Zoey Gjorgjievski, Avery Tarasovich and Lauren Blosser. I think they will bring good experience and familiarity. They’ve seen what winning districts look like, and that helps rub off on other younger players like ‘we can do this, we have done this before’,” Pestka said.