After a disappointing season last year, the Diamond Bar High School girls varsity tennis team is ready to bounce back. With a new mindset and goals, the girls are ready to take on the league again.

“This year we’re going to focus on more technique and positive attitudes, just trying our best,”  senior team captain Samantha Cho said.

This year, the team consists of twelve players: eight new additions and four returning players.  Several seniors on the team, including team captains Cho and Emily Zhang, have played tennis all four years while many of the other recently recruited players have previously played three years on junior varsity.

“What I like most about this team is that they’re experienced. One of the improvements is for the girls to build up on their strategy, have awesome team work, and to be competitive in the league this year,” coach Tisa Shavers said.

To ensure that they will be healthy and actively engaged, the girls practice every day after school for two and a half hours. The players are constantly stretching, running drills, and working out to prepare for the season.

Last year, the team faced several injuries, which hampered its ability to compete. Emily Dang, a returning senior and member was injured for half the season with a tennis elbow, a condition caused by the overuse of arm muscles that result in elbow pain. She emphasized her determination to avoid further injuries, improve on her playing skills, and enforce strong footwork.

“I’m going to try to improve as a doubles player and work my hardest. Last year I played singles, then I got injured half way through. So now I’m trying not to get injured,” Dang said.

Another player, Angeline Cheng, has patella chondromalacia, or “runner’s knee” which causes her knees to numb and sore during and after games. Dang and Cheng were just two of the six players injured on last year’s team.

In additional to getting healthier, part of the team’s goal this year is to have a more optimistic approach towards its competition as well.

“I definitely want to improve on my confidence during the games and how I contribute to the team,” senior Zhang said, “I’m going to make the team more exciting and more worthwhile being, because we’re all like a family this year.”

Despite last year’s results, the girls are keeping their head up about winning the league.

“The competition will certainly be better and stronger for them this year. It’ll be different, but they have the arsenal of strokes to be able to compete,” Shavers said, “We’re looking forward to a great season this year and we’re very optimistic about our competition this league.”