Girls tennis is back and ready to tackle the 2016 season. Coming off of a tough 2015 season, they will be doing some rebuilding to put the team back on top.

Led by senior captains Kelly Jiang and Smruti Rajpara, this year is looking hopeful for a strong season, despite the rebuilding plan. The six returning players will give the Lady Raiders experience essential for winning matches. However, new faces will also be looked to for results.  

Jackie Eschbach is a freshman who is starting on varsity this year. Her skill set as a freshman is impressive and is surely going to help for the future of Lady Raider tennis. Learning from current players with years of experience playing at the High School level will be key in developing the younger talent. 

“The amount of new freshmen this year have truly been a great addition to the team,” junior Shree Raghavan said.

Despite starting off this current season with a few losses, the team rebounded to defeat Hunterdon Central in a close, 3-2 victory over the Red Devils.

Hunterdon Central is one of Hillsborough’s biggest rivals so hopefully this win will give the team momentum to power through the rest of the season. The Lady Raiders next big match up will be against the Montgomery Cougars at home on Sept. 27.

Head coach Kathryn Daly is looking forward to playing hard these next few weeks.

“I want us to be competitive in our matches, but also to have fun and support each other as a team,” Daly said.

While still looking for wins in every match, Daly wants to make it clear that having fun and working together are also very big components of the Lady Raider tennis team. Win or lose, this group of girls is always cheering each other on, and creating an environment that helps players get better and encouraging improvement in a positive way.

“People that I barely knew half a year ago have become a second family to me,” sophomore Hanna Kim said. “Each and everyone of them give 110% in every match and it gives such a positive, friendly atmosphere.”

It is truly great that a group of strangers can bond over a game. This is something special that girls tennis, along with many other teams at HHS, have accomplished. Creating memories and life-long friendships might even be more important than victories. This idea is something very important to coach Daly and her players.

The rest of the season will be exciting and action packed. So keep an eye out for the Lady Raiders this fall.