Tennis season is underway and La Salle  is looking forward to seeing the Varsity Girls Team dominate the competition. So far, the team has played pre season matches against Lake Oswego and Estacada. The official season starts this Friday, April 8, with a match at St. Helens.

Senior Teresa Olarte has already made her mark as a standout player this season for her amazing skills on the court. She has been playing tennis since her freshman year and because of her hard work, determination, and passion she has made the number one doubles team two seasons in a row. We interviewed Teresa to find out more about what she is looking forward to this season, what her biggest challenges will be, and more.

***

How long have you been playing tennis?

• “I have been playing tennis since my Freshmen year. I had always played volleyball before that for 8 years.”

What will be your biggest challenge this season?

• “Playing Wilsonville because they’re really good. Sandy is also big competition. Whenever we play them, the matches are always really close and tough. I hope that after improving offseason we have a better chance of winning those matches.”

How do you predict this season will go for your team?

• “Hopefully some of us make it to state, since not many of us went last year, but overall I think it will be a good year. We started doing more offseason training and practice, so I think we have an advantage this year compared to other teams. I think there will be a lot of hard competition now that we are in 5A.”

What are you looking forward to most this season?

• “Playing with Caitlin. We are good friends off the court too so that makes playing with her as my partner even more fun.”

What is different about this season than others?

• “We are seniors. Also, the people that we played against on other teams in previous years were seniors and graduated, so we will be playing against a lot of new people this season. We also have a pretty young team this year, so it will be cool seeing them grow as players.”

What got you interested in playing tennis?

• “Well, I almost ran track, but my friend Christina George convinced me to be doubles partners on the tennis team instead. I am very glad now that I made that choice, though.”

What will you do as a team captain and a senior this year?

• “I hope to bring more inclusiveness to the team. I want to help bring my team together and create a better community among us at practices, matches, and outside of tennis too, like during the day at school.”

What are your practices like?

• “Practices are 5 days a week for Varsity and swing, and 4 days a week for JV. We share the courts with the boys team, so every other week we have early and late practice. Early practice is from 3:15 until 4:30, and late practice is from 4:45 until 6:30. Singles and doubles split up. We do drills on all our different shots, like our forehand, backhand, and serves mostly. At the end of practice, we like to play a game. My favorite is queen of the court.”

What is your favorite shot in tennis?

• “My favorite shot in tennis is the forehand. I also like alley shots because they always can trick my opponent.”

What will your future in tennis look like?

• “I’m not playing in college but I will still play for fun. I possibly will play intramural tennis.”

***
We are looking forward to seeing Teresa finish her senior season successfully. Stay tuned for more updates on the tennis team and wish Teresa luck in her matches!