Girls tennis lost its #1 this year when Trisha Sudarshanam, sophomore, moved to Florida. Sudarshanam was ranked number one in the state last season as a freshman.

“We miss Trisha. If we had her, we would be easily one of the top four teams in State,” Matt Del Pizzo, girls tennis varsity coach said.

However, Del Pizzo said the tennis team has thought little about Sudarshanam’s departure, and is looking forward to a promising season. Many new students have joined, and some, like Ellie Lewis, freshman, have taken the leap to varsity.

“We got two new kids in, two new girls are really good: Ellie Lewis, freshman, and Sarah Salinas, sophomore. So they’re going to step up and they will be a part of the top six,” Del Pizzo said.

Both at Marquette and in their spare time, the girls have been working hard to improve their fitness and technique.

“Some of the girls in the offseason a lot of them will go to these big clubs and clinics and academies and play several hours a day, especially in the summertime,” Del Pizzo said. “Just to try and improve and get better, and be more consistent because that’s what the top players do.”

Del Pizzo said he is confident in this team’s abilities, and said that with their hard work and talent, this team can go far.

“We’ll be just as good if not better because we are deeper this year,” Del Pizzo said. “We have a chance to win conference and win district. We have a chance to get some girls to state individually. We should do well.”

Many of the players share his optimism. Maddie Diedrich, senior, said that their team’s main strength is their consistency.

“I think we are going to do very well,” Diedrich said. “The top six people on varsity are really close in rank. We are all consistent, and we are all really good.”

Diedrich said she is excited for the upcoming season, and said competition among the varsity members has made them all better players.

“As a team we are just getting together and working on each other,” Diedrich said. “We are just focusing on improving ourselves.”

One of the varsity players is Ellie Lewis, freshman.

“I’ve been playing tennis since I was eight,” Lewis said. “I hit with my coach and friends in my free time.”

With players like Diedrich and Lewis on varsity, the tennis team has lost little sleep over Sudarshanam’s departure. Coach Del Pizzo said he likes what he sees, and offers nothing but praise for their talent and attitude.

“Great group of girls, lots of talent, lots of competition amongst themselves so that will just push us to do the best we can,” Del Pizzo said. “We should be very successful this year.”