Lebanon — Fatima Khan was the only female athlete to sign up for tennis at Lebanon High in 2016. Two years later, Raiders head coach Rob Johnstone has more athletes than he knows what to do with — and a victory under his team’s belt.
What a difference a year makes.
Lebanon was five points away from its second victory of the season before falling to Kearsarge, 5-4, at the CCBA on Thursday. Khan, Leah Mayes and sophomore Zola Campbell all won their singles matches; Khan and Mayes won their doubles match, as well, to round out Lebanon’s scoring, dropping the Raiders to 1-5 this spring.
Improvements on the court, as Johnstone noted, are hard to miss from a year ago, when 11 newcomers — many with very little, if any playing experience — joined the veteran Khan in reforming the school’s program. The team went 0-14 in 2017, with many of those matches one-sided affairs. But word spread, and interest for the sport grew. This spring, 22 athletes have signed on to play, 14 of them are underclassmen.
The ones who’ve returned have come back to tennis with a whole new mindset.
“We definitely improved a lot,” said senior Kaitlin Chamley, who joined the team last year. “I was so surprised (so many girls came out), but I was also really happy. … It’s more fun now, the matches. I feel like I’m more into it and I can actually try to win.”
“A lot of girls had fun last year, so they were advertising it,” said senior Molly Pelletier, who played lacrosse last year before switching to tennis this spring. “A lot of people don’t grow up playing tennis. When I was a freshman, I thought the tennis team was really good. I thought, ‘Oh, I can’t just go and fool around and come in not playing.’ But I think now that there’s a lot of new people, you know you’ll get better.”
Khan won her match at No. 1 singles against Kearsarge’s Sarah Long, 8-2. Mayes defeated Felicia McSweeney at No. 2 singles, 8-5, and Campbell beat Olivia Brunetti at No. 5 singles, 8-6. Chamley’s match against Som Sapphara at No. 4 singles came down to a 2-7 tiebreaker in favor of the Cougars. Misia Delgado lost to Becca MacDowell at No. 6 singles, 4-8, and Felicity Breedlove lost to Olivia Lord at No. 4 singles, 2-8.
The match was tied, 3-3, headed into doubles, where Khan and Mayes defeated Kearsarge’s Long and McSweeney at No. 1, 8-6. Chamley and junior Emerson Sleeper lost to Sapphara and Lord, 2-8, at No. 2, leaving Pelletier and junior Lexi Zagarola, both newcomers, against Brunetti and MacDowell in the deciding match. Kearsarge eventually won the game-winner, 8-3.
The result was Lebanon’s third straight 5-4 loss; it has not been swept since the season opener on April 2 against Conant.
“Last year, truly, outside of Fatima, it was the very beginning stages for everyone,” Johnstone said. “Last year, it was, ‘This is how you hold a racket, this is how you do this.’ I think part of (Lebanon’s improvement) is the muscle memory and our the technique getting better.”
Chamley said it isn’t as much her individual skill that’s grown as it is her confidence on the court to make plays. Repetitions, she said, have helped.
“I’ve been trying to stay in it and not get down on myself,” Chamley said. “Last year, I kind of went into it like I knew I was going to lose. This year, I feel like I can try to get to place where I could win. It’s just about staying in it and keeping going.”
Others have taken their improvements to a whole other level. Lebanon sophomores Delgado, Breedlove and Molly Neu have been taking tennis classes at the River Valley Club since January; Delgado has also been taking individual lessons to improve her game.
“I’m still learning the techniques, but I sort of get the basic rules,” said Delgado, who also skis in the winter, but admitted tennis is quickly becoming her preferred sport. “You can sort of build on those techniques after you learn a couple of skills, and learn off of your opponent which is a big part of it.”
Added Johnstone: “Those girls were freshmen last year, brand new to tennis, they’ve been going to clinics and lessons all off season. They’re really into it. They’re into it. They want to be really good at tennis.”
Johnstone will lose six players to graduation later this spring, including his top two singles players in Khan and Mayes. But with a group committed to tennis, he’s hoping continued interest will eventually put Lebanon and its fun, positive attitude back on the map.
“The new batch of girls, I don’t think there’s that intimidation factor,” Johnstone said. “It’s kind of like, ‘Wait a minute, these girls have only been playing for a year? I can do that.’ Take an athlete that wants to get better, and they call can do it.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.