Cape girls' tennis team overcomes rough start

The Cape Henlopen High School girls' tennis team first met its coach the day before their first match.  It was an inauspicious start to the year, but the team blossomed and has done exceedingly well, coaches and players say.

Last fall, the former girls coach resigned.  Colleen Beck said senior team members coordinated practices, which the team ran on its own until one of the boys' team's assistant coaches began helping them on a temporary basis.

"We were waiting for a coach to show up.  There was no structure at first," she said.

Marissa Bowski said without their coach to give them pep talks, they had to learn to do it for themselves.

Then, Marissa said parents of team members started calling friends and acquaintances to see if anyone would volunteer to lead the team.

Dana Long signed on, then Carl Pearson and Bob Edgerton.

It was a rocky beginning, Marissa said, but the year improved quickly.

"Our coaches did such a good job," she said.

Colleen agreed.  "From where we started to now, we've really improved.  Some girls couldn't hit the ball in the beginning."

This year, Marissa said, the team made it farther in the state tournament than it ever has.  Last year, the Lady Vikings lost in the second round, she said.

Pearson said the team did as well as it possibly could have.  "I was really, really pleased," he said.  In the Henlopen Conference, he said, the team was 12 and 2.  Three singles players reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament, he said.

Assistant coach Edgerton was able to work with players for only three weeks, but he said they did very well.

Marissa said it's difficult to win recognition for tennis achievements when other Lady Vikings teams are so successful. "It's hard to say we're really good in comparison to the lacrosse and track teams," she said.  "Not a lot of people think we even have a tennis team."

Assistant coach Long said the tennis team is packed with talent.  The team is losing great senior players, she said, but younger girls will fill in the gaps, she said.

"One of the things I liked the most about this team was how much of a sense of fairness they have.  During competitions, they're always concerned with doing the right thing and portraying the right attitude," she said.