Backhand, forehand, backhand, and then another forehand.
The rally continues. Each swing taking away a certain amount of energy
Tennis is a game of endurance, the constant back-and-forth motions between players is constant, becoming more and more difficult as a game goes on. Just like a rally, Fulshear Tennis will have to grind through a difficult schedule if they want to come out as winners.
With Fulshear High School entering the 6A category, all of the varsity and junior varsity sports will have to level up to face off against their toughest competition yet, including tennis. Under the leadership of Victoria Firor, Fulshear is still set up nicely to challenge the best teams in the region.
“I’m expecting the team to work on their game and start playing with different people to try and see where they should be,” junior Emily Franks said. “I’m expecting some much harder opponents to play against, (that’s) for sure.”
Emily began playing tennis at an early age with her dad before eventually making the transition into middle school. From that point on, Emily was invested into the sport.
Although Emily has years of experience under her belt, she still has to deal with the nerves that come with stepping onto the court. There’s a level of uncertainty that comes with facing an adversary whose only goal is to beat you.
“My emotions whenever I get on the court are really anxious because I never know how (good) my opponent will be,” Emily said. “You can never tell just by looking at them.”
Despite having a natural inclination to feel uneasy, Emily is finding a way to enter into her zone before each match.
“I really just motivate myself by telling myself, no matter what, (I have to) just put in 100% every time (I step on the court),” she said.
Sophomore Chloe Adair also wants to go for gold this year, despite entering new territory.
“I think we’ll manage (playing 6A schools) the same as last year,” Chloe said. “Last year, we actually played a couple of 6A schools, and we performed pretty well.”
She attributes this sense of confidence to her coach, Victoria Firor. Just entering her second season as head coach of the tennis program, Firor has gained the respect of her students.
Coach Firor does her coaching one-on-one (rather) than as a group,” Chloe said. “She focuses on what each individual needs.”
Chloe has also seen a level of togetherness develop inside of the tennis team, which wasn’t the case at this point last year.
“I feel like the team dynamic is a lot better this year than it was last year,” she said. “Everyone’s a lot closer.”
Aside from group success, Chloe additionally wants to reach some personal goals that she would like to achieve throughout the season, including an esteemed district medal.
“(I want) to fix my serve and maybe even get a medal this year,” she said. “So, we play people on different days, and some of (those matches) are district matches, and based on if you beat them or not, that will decide if you make it (into) the (district) final.”
Although Chloe is optimistic, she knows that the journey will be tough but rewarding.
“I think I can meet those goals,” Chloe said. “Obviously to reach them, I’m gonna have to practice more than just in practice; I need to practice outside of (school).”
Fulshear Tennis has a unique challenge ahead of them, but according to Emily and Chloe, they are strong enough to compete with the best of the best.
