The girls tennis team anticipates a season filled with competitive success, but more importantly, strong team bonds, junior Co-Captain Erin Li said.

Li, who has been a part of the team since her  freshman year, also said this season will present some challenges as the graduating senior class was a majority of last year’s team.

“Some possible challenges I feel like we will face in the upcoming season is probably staying competitive in our league since we lost some of our top players,” Li said.

Coach Andy Harader, who has had experience of coaching Paly tennis for 26 years, said Paly is in the toughest high school tennis league in Northern California. During his time coaching at Paly, Harader led one team all the way to League Championships and he hopes that he will have a chance again this year.

“Championships happen around November … but everyone is competitive and very driven, so I don’t have to do much to motivate them, which is great,” Harader said. 

The team’s first match was at home on Aug. 25, against Aragon High School, and Paly won 6-1. 

But beyond their impressive win in the first match of the season, Li said she is most excited to help the team connect with each other through bonding activities, including team lunches or dinners and dress-up days during school. 

“As a captain, I want to help the team stay very close to one another even throughout every competitive match,” Li said. “I am most excited about cheering for my teammates and friends.”