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Tennis players prepare for the upcoming individual season in the spring
Senior Vincent Carney serves in practice on Dec. 16. Photo by Elizabeth Nation.
Senior Vincent Carney serves in practice on Dec. 16. Photo by Elizabeth Nation.
Elizabeth Nation

Only a few short months after finishing third in district to wrap up their fall team tennis season in October, McCallum’s tennis team is preparing for the spring season. While most sports are only in season one time of the year, tennis is an exception, with both a fall and a spring season. 

The two seasons, however, are structured very differently from each other. The main difference between the two is that the fall is team tennis while the spring is individual tennis. In the fall, each player’s win counts as a point to the team’s overall score, and the first team to reach 10 points wins. Meanwhile, in the spring, athletes choose if they want to compete in singles or doubles, and play as an individual in a bracket in tournaments against multiple other schools.

Junior Nadia Tissembaum is currently line three on varsity, meaning she plays other athletes who are also ranked third on their team, and enjoys the spring’s structure over the fall because there are more chances to play in tournaments.

“I prefer it because I feel like there is more opportunity to play, whereas in the fall season, it’s kind of one tournament, and you only get to play one or two matches in a tournament,” Tissembaum said. “In the spring season, it’s a bracket, so you win or you’re knocked out.”

Senior Sophia Ramsey readies her racket to hit a forehand in a doubles match in practice on Dec. 16. Photo by Elizabeth Nation.

Not only does the spring season allow tennis players to play more matches in a tournament, it also has far more tournaments than the fall team season. Although McCallum played a few tournaments against Anderson, Bastrop, LASA and other schools, they didn’t count to the team’s rank and tennis players only participated in one singles and doubles match per tournament. In the fall, the only tournament that determines McCallum’s rank is the district tournament, according to head tennis coach Michael McLaughlin. 

“The district tournament is the whole shebang,” McLaughlin said. “It’s what determines who comes in first and second, so the tournaments leading up to the district tournament don’t count as far as your placement. Everything’s riding on that district tournament.”

Another upside of the spring season according to McLaughlin is that tennis players get to compete against multiple schools, as opposed to the fall season’s one-on-one team play structure.

“Team tennis is always McCallum versus Crockett, for example, or McCallum versus LASA,” McLaughlin said. “The tournaments that we do in the individual season in spring have a whole bunch of teams. In fact, we’ve played in tournaments that have 30 teams at multiple different sites. They’re huge events.”

Co-captain and senior Ben Reiff feels that the added number of schools fosters an extra layer of competition to the spring tournaments. 

“I like it more because there’s more of a chance to win, the tournaments are structured differently, and we’re playing more schools at every tournament,” Reiff said. “It makes it more fun and more competitive.”

Reiff, who plays singles, is looking forward to the spring individual season. The season holds mixed emotions for him, however, because it will be his last season playing tennis at McCallum.

“I’m sad but I’m also excited because I’m ready to move on to college,” Reiff said. “[I’m] looking forward to all the tournaments and ready to finish out senior year with some wins.”

While the new season will give veteran players like Reiff another chance to show off their skills on the court, it will also give new players an opportunity to compete in individual tennis tournaments at the high school level for the first time. Despite it being his first year at McCallum, freshman Vincent Becker plays on the varsity team, after originally being on JV for a few weeks at the beginning of the school year.

“I think it’s really cool because I get to be part of the varsity team and play with my team members,” Becker said.

Freshman Vincent Becker prepares to serve while playing doubles in practice on Dec. 16. (Elizabeth Nation)

Becker is looking forward to the spring season, and hopes that it will give him a chance to play more and improve his game. To prepare for the upcoming season, Becker and his teammates have been practicing more. 

“We’re starting up with afternoon practices now that the weather has changed,” McLaughlin said. “We’re trying to keep the momentum going until winter break and then we start up again with full practices in January.”

Although the tennis team is still getting ready for the upcoming season, the team has already seen a lot of progress from the beginning of the year, according to McLaughlin.

“It’s super fun to see kids go from that beginner level to where you’re actually competing at a  varsity level,” McLaughlin said. “That’s the most fun part of being a coach, is seeing the improvement some of these players are making.”

The spring season will begin in January and run until the end of March, when players compete to be ranked in district at the district tournament. Tissembaum has high hopes for the upcoming season.

“I would like to win a few tournaments in singles,” Tissembaum said. “I would like to place in district and maybe go to regionals. As a team, I think that we have goals to go far, and I think that we can this year.”

Tennis’ upcoming spring schedule for 2025. Graphic by Elizabeth Nation.
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