New Trier varsity boys tennis started their season with a 8-4 win against Edwardsville on Friday Mar 17.

Team members either cheered on their teammates or played from about 5:30PM until 11PM at night on Friday. 13 of New Trier’s 14 players participated in the event; 8 new Varsity players as well as two freshman.

Freshman, Dylan Drier, played alongside senior Nathan Friedman in doubles on Friday. They lost their individual games but team members helped keep moral up during the game by cheering for motivation.

Friedman said, “It was the first match of the season so there was definitely room for improvement. My partner, Drier, and I have a couple strategies to work on.”

Drier took a more positive note, saying, “Even though I wasn’t happy to lose, I still knew it was a good learning experience for me. It’s not good loosing a 2+ hour match, but it’s a good experience to play in matches like that.”

While the freshman-senior duo took a loss, other doubles teams found success on Friday. One team in particular was that of juniors Reed Bianucci and Peter Leutz. Both players have been on Varsity since Freshman year.

The duo won with scores of 6-1 and 6-3. Leutz only dropped one point on his serve.

Leutz explained that, “We have a lot of work left to do and we’re not where we want to be but it was a good start to the season and all around a clean match.”

Both Bianucci and Leutz plan to put in more work in preparation to defend the teams state champion title in May.

“We are just really focused on defending our state championship from last year,” Bianucci said.

Since Friday’s match was the first of the season the pressure was light, and focused mostly on team bonding and knowing what to work on for May.

“We are all out there working as hard as we can and it’s great knowing the whole team is with you. So far our team already has the brotherhood feel to it,” Friedman said.

Since the first day of practice, a brotherly atmosphere has been present on the court. Despite all the new faces, the consistent coaching staff, which has proved best in the state, helped ensure that the team motivates one another.

“Playing for your teammates is so much more fun than just playing for yourself,” Leutz said.

Though tennis is be played in singles or doubles, the end result of a players match effects the whole team and their score. This is why bonding and cheering on your teammates is so important.

Freidman summed up their first game as a team and concluded, “It feels great to be back on court with a hard working and great group of kids and overall the match went pretty well for the team.”