Fox Chapel Area girls tennis coach Alex Slezak said the team’s goal this season is the same as any other: work as hard as they can, try as hard as they can, and maximize every opportunity they can.
“The team is shaping up pretty well,” said coach Slezak, in his 15th season as coach of the girls team. “We have a lot of seniors on the team. A lot of the kids are returning. They’ve been in the top eight before, so they can use this experience to be more comfortable in those more competitive, higher pressure situations.”
The Foxes went pretty far in 2023, advancing to the WPIAL quarterfinals. A strong nucleus returns from the team that notched an 11-3 record and 7-1 in Class 3A Section 3 last season.
The 2024 roster includes seven seniors. Two of those seniors, Sienna Siegel and Anna Kintner, qualified for the WPIAL doubles tournament last season.
“They’re good competitors and good team leaders,” coach Slezak said. “They’ve been around since ninth grade, so they know what to do. That’s going to help everybody get better.”
Coach Slezak is still working on the lineups for the season, but he said Sienna and Anna will be slotted in as two of his singles players. One of the other singles players will be one of two seniors – Hannah Parker or Meg Delaney, while the other will play doubles.
Each of those four seniors was in the starting lineup in 2023.
Others expected to contribute include juniors Eloise Johnson, Caroline Leland and Umayma Trebak.
There’s also a freshman on this year’s team for whom coach Slezak has high hopes – Clara Drahnak.
“She’s just a very athletic kid and very competitive,” the coach said. “She plays a lot of tennis. She’ll be in the starting lineup somewhere.”
For the Foxes to have another strong season, coach Slezak said there are some things they must do.
“We have to have a good work ethic and good character, because that’s the fuel for the whole season,” he said. “If we have that and we work hard and get better every day, that will be our key to success.”
The teams expected to pose the toughest competition are those that usually do – Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Shady Side Academy, and defending WPIAL champion Bethel Park.
The Fox Chapel Area girls tennis team will begin its season Monday, August 19, at Mt. Lebanon.