Colder days signal the end of the fall athletics season, and for most seniors this means the end of their playing time in their respective sports.
While this may be the case for most, Del Oro senior Naomi Rincon isn’t quite ready to put away her tennis racket.
Rincon is the first Suns player to advance beyond the South Yosemite Horizon League tournament. She has a first-round match on Thursday against Bakersfield High’s Kameryn Chavez, the top-ranked player in the California Interscholastic Federation’s Central Section girls tennis Area tournament. The tournament runs Nov. 7-8 at Garces High School.
Rincon began her tennis journey as a sophomore and proved her dedication to the sport, managing to hold a spot as one of the team’s top players for the past three years.
When asked about her feelings regarding making it this far, Rincon expressed her gratitude for earning the opportunity to continue playing past the SYHL tournament.
“I hope that my outcome has future me knowing that I did my best,” she said. ”I hope that I can just have fun because what’s the point of winning if there’s no fun in it.”
Rincon’s positive attitude is evident, and this will reflect in her passionate playing on Friday.
“To me, it means that I get to go out like an athlete and make memories with those who are my teammates,” she said.
Rincon isn’t the only senior on the tennis team who had a stellar season. Both Stephanie Coronado and Aliah Hernandez have been consistent with their dedication to the team, despite playing under multiple coaches.
Coronado and Hernandez have had to work with a coach each year, only for that coach to transfer by the end of the year. The constant turnover left the team in jeopardy of being disbanded.
“I like the sport so the thought of it not being available next year because we didn’t have a coach was kind of worrying,” Coronado said.
The girls tennis team went through two different coaches before staying with its current coach, Maria Cornejo. This meant the team missed out on critical preseason summer conditioning.
However, Coronado and Hernandez each said they stayed positive and refused to let the coaching issues become an obstacle.
“We adapted quickly with the new coaches, with the new schedule, with not even that many practices,” Hernandez said. “We pushed through it and I appreciate how all of us still adapted.”
