This year, CHS girls’ tennis entered a rebuilding year. For Jennifer Alvarado, the longest-tenured teacher here at the high school and long-time tennis coach, this year meant pushing through adversity. With the help of team captains Sara Del Grippo, Tabitha Brickley, and Addison McMullen, the team has achieved a respectable 8-7 record as of October 17.

“I wouldn’t say this is a weakness, but we’re totally rebuilding,” Alvarado said. “We lost six of our seven varsity members from last year’s team, and I have some players who have never played singles before, and who’ve never played varsity before, so that was a big adjustment for them.”

Alvarado went on to say that even though the team lost the majority of its varsity members, her 

new team has been quick to adapt to change, along with the growing level of inclusivity within the team. 

Team captain Sara Del Grippo, a senior, described what being a part of the team is like for her.

“Definitely join because it’s like a big giant family, and we all really like each other. There are a countless number of girls who have tried out and have never played before, and are really good,” Del Grippo said. “It’s all about learning and improving, so I definitely think that people should try out.” 

Junior and fellow team captain Addison McMullen furthered that same sentiment.

“I would say definitely join. We’re all very friendly and very nice. It’s one of the sports teams that doesn’t have a lot of issues or drama between people, and everybody’s very kind, and we all help each other,” McMullen said. “And if you talk to the captains that year, if you talk to people who have been on it, they will help you learn and everything. I mean, I always tell the freshmen, if you ever need help, I’ll help you because it’s a group thing.”

Alvarado discussed how her goals for the season are to just have fun, but to also remember that winning carries some importance. Though winning isn’t the most important priority right now, keeping her players motivated to do so has never been an issue.

“I love to bribe them with Chick-fil-A and Starbucks. LOL, right?” Alvarado joked. “I don’t really need to bribe them because they are all very self-motivated. They want to do well, and when they don’t, they do get frustrated and upset. So, you know, they take it upon themselves to get better. It’s not so much me driving them, it’s them driving themselves.”

On October 15th, the team took a trip to Veterans Park in Hamilton Township for the BCSL Open. The tournament was bracket style, and the players had the opportunity to compete against multiple different schools, including rivals Delran and Northern Burlington. The varsity 1st and 3rd singles and 1st and 2nd doubles all made it into the semi-final round. Del Grippo noted how the team performed well and played good tennis, taking into account the tough competition that they were put up against.

No doubt, the motivation has led to some level of success, even in a rebuilding year, but Alvarado is more focused on this season as a whole rather than looking ahead to the future.

“My hope is one day to get back to winning the division. We last won the division in 2019 or 2018,” Alvarado said. “So I would love to get back to winning a division again, but for now, I just am focusing on this season and just staying at .500%.”

With the main focus on this year’s team and seeing what they can accomplish, Alvarado talked about what she attributes the team’s success to.

“I would just say hard work, dedication, to take constructive criticism from myself and Mrs.

Leetz, because we’ve been doing this a long time. I mean, I’ve been playing since I was eight

years old. And when I make a suggestion, it’s not to criticize them. It’s like, ‘Hey, how can I get better?’” Alvarado said. “So I just gave them all homework from Monday’s match. And I said, ‘Listen, I want you to write down a strength and I want you to write down a weakness’. Like, what can we work on at our next practice? And I said, ‘Just be honest, I’m the only one seeing these. I want you to be honest with yourself,’ and they did. They really dug deep and came up with some really good ideas.”