Friends On and Off the Court

STRONG BONDS GROW FROM TEAM PLAY

By Jason Steinberg

The Kentucky Women’s 4.5 team from Lexington is at Sectionals for the third time. The team is hoping that their experience will give them a leg up on the competition as the tournament progresses. Aside from the experience, this team is tight and eager to compete together on the court.

The first year of competition for the Kentucky team ended in the finals, when they lost to a good Tennessee team. Last year these ladies were close to making it back to the finals, but ended as the second place team in their flight. “Experience makes you tougher when you get out there. It’s tough to play an equal level of competition every time on the court,” said captain Jessica Cunningham. Cunningham says that the experience allows the team to know what to expect going into competition.

The team describes themselves as a cohesive bunch. They enjoy doing things together outside of tennis, and have become great friends. Activities such as yoga, boxing classes, bowling and golf among other things are enjoyed by the entire team. The way these ladies interact together makes for such a unique team. Being such good friends off the court makes it easier for the team to work together and overcome obstacles on the court. “Win or lose, we still love each other afterwards.”

One of the fun activities that the team likes to partake in together is singing karaoke. They will go out together and have a blast singing different songs. As a collective group, their favorite karaoke song is Gloria Gaynor’s hit “I Will Survive.” The words to this song are taken to heart by the players, and hopefully this will be the year that they survive and advance to Nationals.