SBHS Girl’s Tennis Season Wraps Up

As the month of October comes to an end, so does the Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) girls tennis season. On Oct. 9 they played against San Marcos losing 7-11 with two of the matches being tie breakers. Head Coach Shane Carmody said, “despite all those negative things, we made it really close. It could have been all tied up 9-9, but SM played really well and they deserved to win.” 

Carmody said that his highlight of the season is getting third place in the Channel League while pushing for second place. “Being short of so many varsity players from last season, and having so many new players to play on varsity. We’ve made the experience of the entire Channel League more exciting and interesting, more competitive, and I’m really proud of that.” said Carmody. He also says he’s proud of his team for how hardworking they have been this entire season and how they have pushed themselves. “How driven the girls have been to raise their level and improve their game to fight against these teams that are favored very highly over us, and we’ve made it very close and exciting.” 

Something unique about this season is that many new players joined the team, allowing the team to really grow. Carmody said,“We’ve been very adaptive and really stepped up to the plate in a big way. We made some really strong efforts to not just make this season successful but lay out some really good groundwork for next season too.” Kate Hashbargar is a junior on the tennis team. She said that she feels like she has grown mentally as well as skill-wise. ‘I think I’ve grown mentally and at the end of last year I had some mental block with tennis. I’ve grown a lot of confidence in the sport. Whether playing singles or doubles I learned a lot of how to keep my composure and be more confident in my shots.” 

A big goal for Carmody is to have a solid team. During the season a lot of (junior varsity) JV girls stepped up and played in varsity matches. “The team got solid scores and made an impact on our score line and competitive efforts as a team.” Another goal was to have a strong sense of team with varsity as well as JV. “I see our team as one big group that is there to support, encourage, and fill in for each other when they need to, as well as perform equally as well, no matter who’s missing on our varsity squad. That’s a huge goal of mine. We definitely fulfilled that and doing that this year with a new group of girls, that’s really important.” He hopes to create a strong foundation for next year’s season as well.

Girls tennis wasn’t expected to do as well as they have done this far in the season. One of the things Carmody is most proud of is how far his team has gone and how much they have grown. “(We) gave San Marcos (SM) and Dos Pueblos (DP) a run for their money that they weren’t necessarily expecting. I think it just makes tennis more exciting. The interactions are more interesting, more fun, more competitive, and that goes beyond the growth and development of our team, but that also pushes the girls on the other teams to do better and achieve more, which is gonna help all three of us, SM, DP and SB play.” He says he’s especially excited to see the teams go into the playoffs. “We’re all going to have stronger playoff seasons because SB pushes themselves and the other two schools to greater heights. So more excitement to come during playoff seasons.” Marr is most proud of how her skills have grown throughout this season. “Im most proud of the way I’ve worked on my serve and my change in grip that’s helped me get a lot more spin and also a lot more power, which has made me have one of the more deadly serves, which I’m really proud of. 

Next year coach Carmody hopes to have a little more help with the coaching front. “We went from three coaches two years ago to having just one coach this year, and it really helps make a difference to have somebody else, kind of share the same responsibility.” He hopes to also give JV more matches. “Being someone who was on the JV for a couple of years in my high school experience, it was really important to have more matches so that we could make a push for getting on the varsity team next season. I want more opportunities for our JV girls to be able to do that so they can better themselves.” He wants to motivate and inspire them to play at varsity level so they can continue in their high school careers. He’s happy with the scheduling but aims to achieve more. He not only wants to have more matches but as well as recruit some new players to have a solid JV and variety team next year.  “I’m always on the hunt to recruit new Dons.” Hashbargar says she hopes to continue having a good uplifting spirit. “I want to continue having a good, keen spirit as well as being more confident in my shots. I want to continue to encourage others and build good relationships.”