You Got Served: Girls Tennis Team Starts Season Early with Captains' Practices

The sight was enough to make a Hopatcong High School girls' tennis team captain cringe. All three of them, actually.

Only six players showed up to the squad's first captains' practice at the Civic Center a couple of weeks ago. The captains—all seniors—expected so many more.

"I was really mad," captain Ashley Facciola said. "I was disappointed. When I was a freshman, there were a lot of people. What are you supposed to do with six girls?"

That issue had long been resolved by Monday night.

About 30 girls practiced beneath the Civic Center lights under the supervision of captains Facciola, Felicity Meyer and Haley Kearns. The trio led the club through a variety of drills, with their sights set on improving on last year's one-win finish.

How many wins are the Chiefs gunning for this year?

"At least [a .500 record]," Facciola said. "That would be a big achievement."

But first, they'll have to practice—a lot. And Facciola, Meyer and Kearns made sure the girls did just that Monday.

The practice started with a sprint up the steep dirt road joining the Civic Center to the Wayne L. Threlkeld Athletic Complex and, eventually, the high school. There the girls ran a mile around the track, walked back to the dirt hill and sprinted down to the courts.

Meyer said the girls are working hard on conditioning, something she believed last year's team lacked.

"Most people do it, even if they walk a little bit. Everyone's trying," Meyer said. "I yell at them a little bit, so they probably don't like me. Everyone continues [to run] until they can't, basically."

"They need to be fit, they need to have stamina. I always tell them if they push themselves as hard as they can when they're running, they'll be able to run harder next time."

The captains even enforced control over their teammates with the threat of running. If you curse, you run. Checking your cell phone? Run. Same goes for anyone wearing jean shorts or late arrivals.

"I make my girls run if they don't get the ball quick enough," Meyer said. "And if they talk too much."

Facciola added, "It took them nine seconds to [be quiet] one day, so we ran nine 'W' suicides."

Last season, Facciola was second singles, Kearns was first singles and Meyer was first doubles. Meyer hopes to make the leap to third singles this season. She said she'd have to improve her "mental game."

"That's what gets me. I just freak myself out when I'm going against someone else," Meyer said. "Mostly with tennis, that's a problem for a lot of people. It's just you against one other person."

On Monday, however, everybody was on the same team, working toward the same goal. The captains split up, bringing with them a handful of girls to each court to work on specific skills, from baseline work to serving to everything.

Hopatcong's season starts on the road against Morristown-Beard Sept. 7 at 4 p.m. The team plays four of its first five matches away before a three-match home stand.