Armstrong River Hawks Tennis Season Recap

by Jake DeLuca

The Armstrong River Hawks varsity tennis team has exceeded expectations in a lot of ways. With a young roster in a tougher division matching up against mainly seniors the River Hawks were able to put together a 7-6 record with two more exhibition games to be played this upcoming Monday and Wednesday.

The girls were only one section win away from making the playoffs this season, but with such a young group of players finishing with over a .500 record should prepare them for a big season next year. Co-Head Coach Doug Flanders is proud of how his team preformed this season.

“ We fell one match short (of playoffs), but we exceeded expectations. My guess at the beginning of the year was .500 and we are a little above that. The girls have gotten a lot better as the year went along and I am looking forward to next season. Good things to come in the future,” said Flanders.

The River Hawks will have two more exhibition matches this season, which they will have the privilage of hosting. First on the list is Knoch on Monday follwed by West Shamokin on Wednesday. Even though Armstrong is eliminated from the playoffs Flanders still expects a strong finish to the season.

“It would be nice to win the last two games and finish the season 9-6. I’m happy with the season and I’m happy with the girls. The girls know they still have some work to do to get to that next level,” Flanders said.

Next year the River Hawks will have everyone back, including their top three singles players #1 Ashleigh Bowser, #2 Lauren Virostek, and #3 Eva Crawford will all be returning. Over the season everyone on the team has progressed well according to Sanders.

“Ashleigh is very steady at #1, Lauren has vastly improved at #2 whereas last year she struggled against a lot of the girls and this year she beat them. Eva for her first season she did a tremendous job at #3 putting everybody in place. Our doubles from the beginning of the year to the end of the year have gotten much better.”

After their final two matches the girls will have a little off time, but not much according to Flanders.

“In the spring we will go out and hit the ball a little bit and then for summer every Wednesday morning in the summer I will have the girls up here on the court. A lot of them take lessons privately or they are going to start taking lessons privately near Pittsburgh to improve. “

The River Hawks will look to finish strong in their last two games as they try to finish with an above .500 record before they start to prepare for next season begins.