By Kevin Cunningham
Correspondent
A few weeks ago, the Delavan-Darien High School girls tennis team traveled to Elkhorn for a dual, which Comets head coach DJ Dunsker said was a tough match.
“It was still early in the season and our kids are still getting as many touches on the ball as possible in such a short period of time,” Dunsker said.
“We faced a pretty good Elkhorn team. A lot of their players were more experienced than ours; therefore they knew more strategies and tactics that worked into their match play, which was a huge advantage for them. Unfortunately, we were not victorious at any position, but the effort they gave satisfied me,” he added.
That same week, Delavan-Darien hosted a quadrangular meet against Elkhorn, Waterford and Whitewater. The team had a couple wins at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles vs. Waterford.
“The girls have been working hard in practice and it showed in this match,” Dunsker said. “The familiar phrase that I’ve been using all season long is, ‘the hard work and effort that is put into practice is a direct reflection of success in our match play.’”
The coach said it was fun seeing the girls’ growth so early on this season. Delavan-Darien then faced Badger and Union Grove and Dunsker said his team was out-matched in both of those contests.
He said it wasn’t the Comets fault, but Badger and Union Grove have more experience.
Overall, Dunsker said his team is young, but there is room for growth.
“It comes down to years of experience, and for us, we have a lot of room to grow. With young and unproven talent, the ceiling is very high for us and the girls are excited about the off-season,” Dunsker said.
“We will put our best foot forward for the rest of the season, but we also know that there will be a lot of ball striking in the winter months to come to get better.”
The next home match for the Comets is set for a 4:15 p.m. start against Burlington on Monday, Sept. 23.
See more Delavan-Darien sports in the Enterprise.
