With the weather starting to warm up and the school year on its last stretch, the Bear Tennis team is beginning to get its final swings in before the season comes to a close. On Wednesday, March 22, the freshmen and JV Bears traveled to Orangefield High School to compete in the district tennis meet. The meet was successful for the Bears and three team members received medals. Sophomore Grace Walters placed second in girls singles, sophomore Dylan Chamber placed second in boys singles, and freshman Gavin Fountain placed first in boys singles.

Throughout the season, the members had to be very flexible when trying to find out who worked best with who. After a lot of trial and error mixed with hard work, the team was able to find the best doubles and singles, which pushed them toward many victories.

“I started off playing doubles, but at the last two tournaments I played singles,” Fountain said. “We would always move around to whatever would help the team best.”

Fountain joined the team after some encouragement from his friends and because of it, said he has formed many more relationships. Being on the team gave every team member an opportunity to form many new friendships and create many great memories. Walters said she has learned many things from being on the team and has been able to grow closer to her teammates throughout the season.

“My favorite part was practice with my teammates and pushing each other to always be better,” she said. “We are all rather competitive, but at the end of the day, we’re each other’s biggest fans.”

While it’s obvious the members were able to learn more about tennis during the season, many life lessons were learned from the sport as well.

“Tennis in high school is a game of honesty,” Fountain said. “It has taught me to be more honest and to humble myself.”

Although the freshmen and JV season has come to an end, the Battlin’ Bear tennis team will always push their limits and continue to grow as individuals, both on and off the court.

“Being in tennis has influenced me to strive to do better in everything I do,” Walters said.