Royals Girls tennis cruises through season

As the Royals girls tennis team prepares for sections there is much to recap after a fantastic season. They have faced some tough competitions including: Prior Lake, Breck, Wayzata, and Eden Prairie.

One of the most impressing things about this team is how young and how much potential the team has.

“The toughest match for both my team and myself would be Eden Prairie because they’re a good team and we had a lot of pressure on us since it was our first conference match of the season,” said Nicole Lukas,    senior.

Just ask Mr. Ken Novak, coach. Novak coached the tennis team for 15 years and won a state championship. Shortly after, he resigned for 15 years, and now has been coaching for the past three years. Novak has been impressed with how these girls have been playing and their concentration.

“They’ve been working really hard; they’re not worried about their matchup and they’re concentrating hard,” Novak said.

The Royals have two seniors, five juniors and five sophomores, freshman and seventh/eighth graders combined.

“Having so many amazing young players will benefit us greatly in the future. I like to think I’ve influenced the players to have a positive attitude,” Lukas said. “I’m most proud of the team winning our conference match against Wayzata for the first time in 10 years.”

Maddie Suk, sophomore captain and one of the younger players on the team, is also one of the top players in the state for her grade and believes that this team is growing and becoming stronger all together.

“Having young players on the team is really important because we will have many returning players next season,” Suk said. “Our team is getting stronger, thanks to the young girls playing lots of tennis year round.”

Suk has been on varsity since seventh grade, and continues to get better each and every day.

“I have had many great experiences over the years that have allowed me to compete at the level I do today,” Suk said.

Not only is Suk the captain, but she also plays the number one singles spot for the Royals.

Suk said that playing at one singles is tough and she trained hard last off season.

“I’ve trained super hard during the off season and played lots of tournaments. The toughest match for me so far this season was against St. Louis Park. I played a girl named Natalie Lorentz, who is ranked number two in the state and was really good,” Suk said.

The team itself has been competing at a very high level and has a record of (10-3) for the season and are ranked sixth.

“The number one thing our team needs to worry about, is getting better and working hard,” Novak said. “I’m not worried about how well they do, but I’m more worried about the process so that we can get better.”

Like Novak said, this won’t be easy, but in order for them to beat the best they need to learn the process and get better.

The Royals hope to impress many in sections and advance to state. However, it won’t be easy. One of the hardest matches the Royals may see this season is against the Edina Hornets. The Hornets have won state for the past 19 years straight. The road to state for the Royals will begin on Oct. 5.