If you were to ask me where I thought the de Toledo tennis team was last year, I would say we were in a rebuilding stage. There was a good amount of talent on the team, a strong youth core, but things were just not falling into place.

Was it the coaching? Was it the leadership? Was it the attitudes on the team?

Nobody knew the answers but we knew one thing for sure, the boys on the team wanted to win. So they put in the work over the offseason and it definitely has translated into what they are putting out on the court this year. The team, lead by 4 seniors, is 2-3 so far this season.

This is an enormous step up from where they were at this point last year. With the new addition to the varsity team in freshman Noah Anish, the mighty Jags have a solid player to join the rotation in singles. This year, so many students signed up for tennis that a JV team had to be opened up. The JV team is thriving, thanks to head coach Dr. J.B Sacks. Dr. Sacks has been a long-time teacher for de Toledo as well as a long time tennis star.

On the varsity side, senior Ben Brandt talked to me about what it is like to play doubles with his brother, junior Mike Brandt. He said there are some pros and cons, but a big pro is that “there is this sense of comradery, we grew up with the same mother cooking for us, and that really translates into stellar tennis play.”

His brother Mike says about playing with his brother: “it is an indescribable feeling. We are one on the court.”

Cory Blumstein is the co-captain of the varsity squad and I was recently talking to him about our team this year compared to last year. The first thing that came to his mind was that he “sees a lot more confidence in our swings.” Why is that? “We are an older team this year,” he said.

“Our motto of playing with confidence, not cockiness, really helped our squad go into matches with the right mindset.”

This year’s tennis team has the right mindset, and the physical play is definitely showing. They are in for quite the successful year.