Varsity tennis season started off their first week of games 5-0, defeating both Mason and Adrian and winning their first tournament at Almont.

Last Tuesday the Bulldogs beat Mason in their first game 6-2. Then on Thursday the Bulldogs swept the Maples 8-0. They finished the week with a tournament on Saturday where they took down 3 different teams to win their first tournament of the season.

“I would say I am very happy with our first games,” singles player Kelsey Weinreich said.

Rachel Bareis, another singles player for the Bulldogs, said the team is doing well so far into the season. She also added that their first games made a good start to what the team hopes will be the most successful girls tennis season the program has had.

“I believe the whole team thought we did incredibly well against Mason, Gabriel-Richard [in a scrimmage], and Adrian so far,” Rachel said after the team’s win on Thursday. “I believe our doubles teams have been working extremely well together. This year as a team we have the goal to do the best the girls tennis team has ever done in Chelsea history.”

In order to reach this goal, the team wants to place in the top 5 at tennis states. Last year the team placed 7th, which is the current highest record for Chelsea girls tennis to place at states. The team has many experienced returners from last year and a few new additions to the varsity squad. 7 out of the 12 girls on the team this year are seniors. Kelsey said that Coach Pedlow is excited to see what this unique group of girls can do this season.

“Coach Pedlow has said that he has been waiting for this kind of group for a while,” Kelsey said. “We have been playing since middle school and have a lot of experience under our belts, and he thinks we should make it far through states this year.”

The Bulldogs will play their next match against Ypsilanti today at home.

Though the tennis team played their first matches this week, they started their preparation for this season with workouts over the summer and conditioning this winter.

“We are going to be a strong team with many hardworking, experienced seniors this year,” Kelsey said. “The girls worked hard during the winter to prepare for the season. Our practices so far this season have been upbeat and enjoyable [and we’re] thankful to have such an amazing team. I’m super pumped to see the potential our team has.”