It has been a difficult and unprecedented school year for sports teams and DMHS Tennis, like all other sports, faced odd challenges. But also like all other sports teams, the Tennis team, coached by Jana Sperber and Maria Klose, took on those challenges and played however they could.

“The season was shorter due to the pandemic and we started playing later than expected in the season. However, for what it was, the season was fun. Our overall record was 3-5 while our divisional record was 1-3,” Head Coach Jana Sperber said.

Besides an abbreviated season, athletes and coaches needed to wear masks, and players were not supposed to touch their opponents’ tennis balls. They had to kick the balls to their opponents. During introductions and after the matches, instead of shaking hands, players tapped tennis rackets. 

“Covid definitely made this season challenging. We weren’t able to have our full team because some of the girls had family members at home they couldn’t risk and others either weren’t able to join at all or started coming later because they couldn’t get appointments with their doctors to get cleared to play,” explained junior Rahima Shaikh, a second year player. “But practices were really exciting because I got to see my friends. I looked forward to tennis because I was able to get in some physical activity away from sitting in front of a screen,” Rahima said.

One might even say school spirit was better for the 25-member Tennis Team. They even won over Cliffside Park in a close match 3-2. 

“Although there were changes due to the pandemic, none of that affected our school spirit and desire to enjoy playing tennis for DMHS,” Coach Sperber said and added, “Go Raiders!”

Coach Sperber and Coach Klose were proud of the improvements made by team members and look forward to another fun season in 21-22: they encourage anyone interested in tennis to join the team.