The sun beats down on the shoulders of the girls as they huddle together, listening intently to their captains who are sharing strategy and words of encouragement. Their eyes are alive with the fire of competition and their hearts are beating as one. With a final shout, they break apart and turn towards the courts, bursting with renewed energy and ready to take on the upcoming matches.

The Staples girls’ tennis team has achieved many victories recently, following a slow start of the season, while also fostering companionship and support.  

  “A highlight of it has definitely been [when] we beat our rivals Darien, so that was awesome,” captain Caroline Caggiano ’23 said. “We’ve been calling this season our ‘2023 Comeback Tour’ because in the first week of our season we lost two matches to teams we hadn’t lost to in a while, so then we really took some time to reset our lineup and really refocus as a team, and we’ve definitely really improved and made a huge comeback since those first two losses.”

The win against Darien, who had beaten Staples last year in  the FCIACs, proved rewarding after their two losses at the start of the season against Greenwich and New Canaan. Those matches prompted the team to make some changes to their strategy.

“The girls have a lot of heart and they’re playing as hard as they can and supporting each other,” coach Jena Wider said. “We moved our lineup around a little bit, moving some of our top players into doubles, and that’s really helped bolster the team and given us some of those wins that we didn’t think we’d necessarily were going to get.”

With many younger players joining the team this year, the group has focused on building and strengthening their bonds. 

“Since we have a lot of new girls it’s been a big reset for everyone,” Caggiano said. “We have six seniors who are obviously very close because we’ve been playing together for such a long time, but we’ve definitely all really blended together well.”

Lola Lamensdorf ’25, who joined the team last year as a freshman, has been able to form connections with the team in a way that isn’t immediately thought of when thinking of tennis, a largely individual sport.

“It’s been amazing,” Lamensdorf said. “I’m making so many bonds and I just really enjoy having an individual sport turn into a team one.”

This sentiment is shared by many in the team, including Karenna Birns ’23 who leads the team along with co-captains Caggiano and Audrey Kercher ’23. She credited the team’s supportive environment as a particular strength. 

“I think our greatest asset is our ability to lift each other up when we see people on the court starting to feel down about themselves,” Birns said. “Or get in their head during their matches, which happens to everyone. ” 

As the season continues, the team aspires to maintain their current achievements, both in cultivating their team dynamic and in their matches. 

“My hopes for the rest of the season are to continue having the camaraderie that we have and kind of growing that as well,” Birns said. “And then also making it as far as we can in both states and FCIACs.