With the season drawing to a close, the Reagan women’s tennis team is serving opponents left and right. With an incredibly high conference rank and fresh new tennis court, the Raiders could be the big team to beat this year.

This year, the Raiders have a season record of 7-4 and are tied for second place in the 4A Central Piedmont Conference. Of the four losses, three were tight 5-4 matches, so if they lose, it’s never by much at all.

“We haven’t been blown out by anybody, so we’ve had a good season,” tennis coach Scott Larson said.

Larson has a very adequate feeling about the fall 2021 tennis season. 

“It’s been pretty good this year,” Larson said, “It could’ve been better, but overall it was great.”

Davie is the highest performing team in the CPC, and is the only undefeated team in the conference, with a record of 14-0. The Raiders came incredibly close to breaking Davie’s pristine record but lost 9-7. According to Larson, the Raiders have come the closest out of any team to beat Davie.

“The Davie game was a bit of a nail biter,” Larson said, “We were really close to winning, but Davie snubbed us.”

This year, a notable player is becoming more prominent in the midst of the season, senior Ashley Belnap. 

“Our number 2 player, Ashley Belnap, she’s wanting to play in college,” Larson said. “She’s looking at Meredith College as well as Guilford, so she’s hoping to play.”

With the season just having ended and a record of 8-3, Larson is hoping for a good turnout in tournaments. Before state tournaments, local competitions are held between individual players within the conference.

“This coming week, we enter the conference tournament, which is more of an individual based tournament,” Larson said. “Hopefully we’ll have some players qualify for regionals from the upcoming conference tournament.”

On the homefront, students and staff have seen a major change in the school’s appearance; the tennis court.

The tennis court, a landmark of Reagan, is one of the first aspects of the school noticed from a distance. Teams compete and practice, and non-players practice tennis for other teams, or just as a hobby. In September, the tennis court had its first makeover since it was constructed in 2005.

“The courts were original to the first year the school was opened,” Larson said, “Although there is a certain nostalgia to the way the tennis court looked, it was in dire need of some attention.”

The old burgundy design of the tennis court is gone, and a familiar sight of the Pfafftown community has been changed, but it was also upgraded.

“In some places, the paint was shriveled, there were cracks all along the ground,” Larson said, “They did do some good by taking care of it.”

The school system was able to get all the cracks in the court refilled, the grass in the court, and a completely new paint job, featuring Raider teal and black.

With a high placing conference record and a promising lineup, the Raiders are pegged to dominate the conference tournament, and hopefully to state.

“I have a good feeling about our lineup this year,” Larson said. “With how we’ve been playing this season, I’m confident we’ll be able to do well in the conference tournaments, maybe even go to state.”