Abigail Weiner (’27) serves the ball cross-court to her opponent during a match against the Windward School. Her opponent gets ready to receive the ball, racket in hand. The ball flies through the air before bouncing inside the box. Weiner hits a forehand winner, sending it back to the opposite side of the court, helping to secure an overall 16-2 victory for the Panthers.
The varsity tennis team consisted of 13 students ranging from 10-12 grade. Seniors Presley Forester, Zoe Gazzuolo, Parker Keston and Surya Patil are the team’s co-captains. Nine players start during each match: three singles players and three pairs of doubles players.
This year marks a milestone for the team, as it is their first year in the Gold Coast League, which includes the Brentwood School and Crossroads School.
The varsity tennis season began Aug. 5, and their season record was 10-7, placing them fourth out of six in the new league. The team held practices at Barrington Courts after school, in Brentwood, as well as home matches. Practices involved warm-ups, scrimmage matches and the “10-point” game, which involves the entire team.
The tennis senior night took place Oct. 17 at the Barrington courts against Viewpoint School, where nearly 50 Archer community members showed up to support the team.
Head coach Paula Feigenbaum has been playing tennis for most of her life. She started playing in middle school and has continued to play for fun all her life.
“You can play your entire life. That’s the beauty of the sport,” Feigenbaum said. “And by the time these girls graduate from Archer, they will be so adept they can go anywhere and play tennis because we have taught them everything we feel that they need to know.”
Feigenbaum said she was very excited about Archer joining the Gold Coast League. She said she believes the new league allows players to challenge themselves more.
“We all know their opponents in the former league, Liberty League, every time we played a school, we played them for so many years we always knew who we were going to play,” Feigenbaum said. “So, now we have no idea who we’re going to be playing.”
Weiner is one of the youngest players who play singles for the team. She began playing tennis when she was in elementary school and played on the Archer middle school team.
“Archer has taken such an individual sport and grouped a lot of people with similar interests together. It is such a fun and competitive environment,” Weiner said. “Even though you’re playing your matches individually, you do have a team that supports you, and that you can rely on.”
Although tennis is a physical sport, Weiner emphasized the importance of staying mentally present on the court. She said it is important to have a strong mental game, when facing your opponent.
“I’ve just love the mental side, because tennis, yes, it involves a lot of physical, but it’s a lot of mental,” Weiner said. “If you don’t have a strong mental game on the court, it’s very hard to pull out a win. It’s just so much where you’re gonna hit the ball, how you’re gonna compose yourself because it’s just you on the court.”
The importance of mental fortitude in tennis was also communicated by the assistant coach, Celia Quintero. Quintero was a US Open ball girl and now works as a tennis coach at the Barrington and at country clubs in Los Angeles.
“Tennis is 85% mental, and for singles, you’re alone during those tough pressure points, and it’s how you handle yourself,”Quintero said. “Not to show your opponent that you’re frustrated, but to keep your composure to be okay with losing, but also being gracious at the same time.”
The team placed a strong emphasis on community. The captains hosted a US Open watch party, where the team got together and watched the US Open,while eating tacos and drinking mocktails. They also hosted a power point presentation night, where players presented slideshows on random topics of their choosing. When walking to practice, students are required to check in with each other about past matches and how they are feeling that day.
“We walk over to Barrington, and we walk and talk with prompts,” Weiner said. “Just how our week or how our weekends went, how the past match went, and just personal tennis experiences.”
With three team-bonding events, weekly practices and matches, Feigenbaum said the team have had a successful season. Both coaches said that the team’s talent and skill was divided pretty evenly among all players.
“No pressure. It’s a new league. Just enjoy and feel free.” Feigenbaum said. “There’s absolutely no pressure from the coaches.”
