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Last Wednesday the girls’ tennis team took on Central.

Sophomore Tina Hollen won her individual match. After falling behind she picked up her pace and came out with the win. Unfortunately the co-op team made up of players from Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis fell 4-3.

Senior Hannah Klesius and Hollen are encouraging other girls to come out for the team while there is still time. The squad only has three members, so in order to win every player would have to win every time out, singles and doubles.

Hannah stated that you will letter and you’ll get playing time if you join.

Hollen said she feels confident that she can compete well enough to be a part of the District championship.

The next match for the girls will be on September 8 against Huntington and Windber.

BluePrint: How did you get involved with tennis?

Hollen: My sister started playing when I was in seventh grade and my mom adored her for it so I started playing too, thinking that I’d get some recognition.

BluePrint: Last week you had your first tennis match. How did you do? How did the team do?

Hollen: Speaking for myself, I was lucky I even won because I played poorly but the team, all three of us, did decent for having to forfeit 3 of 7 matches.

BluePrint: How do you predict your 2015 tennis season will go?

Hollen: I predict to be a top competitor in Districts and hope to be a Mountain League all-star.

BluePrint: Out of the sports you play where does tennis rank?

Hollen: By far tennis is ranked number one.

BluePrint: What would you say to encourage other girls that want to come out for this tennis season?

Hollen: Tennis is really laid back. You can play for fun or be competitive, it doesn’t matter. We don’t run at practice and you’ll letter if you play … and not to mention we go to Dairy Queen every away match.

BluePrint: How do you feel about going to a rival school to play a sport?

Hollen: I don’t mind it all that much. I’m mostly just grateful I have the opportunity to play, but it is a strange transition to hating and trash talking Tyrone to being one of them. On the bright side I love that their school color is black because our uniforms are black.

BluePrint: How does tennis compare with basketball? They seem really different but are there any similarities?

Hollen: No comparing tennis and basketball. It’s like trying to compare day and night. On one hand tennis is a team sport, but mostly individual; in basketball you won’t go anywhere unless you have five all-around girls. Tennis is also really mental too. You can break a person just by acting a certain way. You’ll be surprised how easily girls will give up.