A tennis match is not quite like most spectator sports. There is no referee to wave the flag or to loudly blow the whistle, the entire match is self-scored.
There is not one match, but many matches all played at once, leaving players stranded on islands, with only them, the opponent, and the ball.
“I don’t talk to anyone before a match,” Madeline Deters, reigning centennial league tennis singles champion said. “I just listen to hype music.”
Singles are a match between two players, the home and the rival team.

“Singles are more mentally challenging,” Deters said. “If I mess up it’s all on me.”
Mental challenge is the appeal of tennis. The puzzle is where to stand, at what angle to hold the racket, and how best to meet the opponent.
“There is a lot of range when playing the different teams,” Ava Ritter, a Senior on the tennis team, said. “We can play teams that are really good and really nice or really bad and really mean.”
But still, the match must be played.

“If we are losing I turn a little negative, but I still try to stay positive,” Deters said. “I overall keep a positive mindset.”
And if the match ends in victory, celebration. And if it ends in defeat, sportsmanship to the end. Whether or not the other team reciprocates.
“I was raised where tennis was a privilege, not a right, and other girls were not raised like that,” Ritter said.
“That’s the difference between those two kinds of people.”
On Oct. 11, Deters won the Regional singles title and a doubles pair, senior Ava Ritter and sophomore Hailey Caryl, also qualified for State! Cheer them on in Olathe, Friday, Oct. 17!