The JV tennis team at South is now in season. There are new players, fresh tennis balls and many returning faces, including the JV tennis coach, Paula Cornwall.

According to Cornwall, she will have coached for 10 years for the JV girls tennis team at South and she is excited to see what this season has to offer.

“This year I hope to see my girls having fun and enjoying the sport as well as improving throughout the season,” Cornwall said.

Cornwall said she started tennis at a young age and continued to play for fun at her cottage in northern Michigan. She practiced four days a week and loved tennis from day one. Her practice paid off when she was selected for a high position on her first tennis team.   

“I played at (University Liggett School) as number one singles from seventh grade on,” Cornwall said.

According to Cornwall, due to her love for the sport, she applied to coach for the girls JV tennis team at South 10 years ago. From then on she has continued to coach and has enjoyed doing so.

“I love coaching the girls. I like seeing the girls do well and get better, just being able to hang out with them is fun,” Cornwall said.

The girls enjoy many things about their coach, including the many memories they create each year at pasta parties and team socials, according to team captain Kate Henry ’18 .  

“Our team went to Punch Bowl Social for an end of the year team dinner, but it took a turn for the worst when our karaoke time got cancelled, the waiter messed up all our orders and people didn’t get their change back,” Mollie DeBrunner’18, member of the JV team, said. “But, it ended up being one of the most fun nights of the year because we had a huge laugh about it and we still talk about it today.”

The team looks forward to an end of the year dinner all season and prepare for the many laughs while rewards and small favors are passed out to each teammate.

“We have our banquet at Andiamos every year and it’s a lot of fun because the captains hand out paper plate awards and it’s a really good team bonding experience. There’s a lot of good laughs and inside jokes,” team captain Amelia Walker ’18 said.  

This season, Cornwall said she hopes to experience the same fun and memories with her girls as well as many successful wins for South.

“I hope the girls will learn new things this year and we can beat our record for most wins in a season,” Cornwall said.