Plum girls tennis turns to new faces after major losses to graduation

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 24, 2018 | 3:57 PM

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Opportunities abound this fall for members of the Plum girls tennis team.

Seven players moved on from last year because of graduation, including Julia Lawrence and Sommer Lewis, the Mustangs’ No. 1 and No. 2 singles players.

The task for coach Vince Romito since the start of preseason practice has been to find that right mix for a lineup featuring several new faces.

“I can’t say right now that we will have the same lineup for every match,” Romito said. “It’s still early, and we are taking a look at a number of different things in practices and scrimmages.”

Eighteen players reported for preseason. That list includes no seniors and 11 freshmen.

The young squad has five juniors and four sophomores.

Audrey Lawrence, a sophomore, is expected to be at No. 1 singles this season, and she said she’s excited for the chance to be in the spot occupied by her sister for several years.

Lawrence was a varsity doubles player last year. She went 6-7 playing with then-senior Emma Vermeiren.

“There are some nerves because it’s a lot different from last year where I just played doubles,” Lawrence said. “But it will be a great opportunity to face the other teams’ top player.”

Romito likes the way Lawrence has improved.

“She had big shoes to fill as her sister did real well,” Romito said. “She stepped up and was willing to move into that (No. 1 singles) spot. She will see a lot of good players with other teams’ No. 1s. It might be an uphill battle, but she’s up for the challenge. I don’t want to put too much pressure on her. I just want her to do the best she can.”

Plum opened the season last week with a nonsection match at Valley, and junior Ashlynn Miller and sophomore Kiersten Beahm were at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively. Both saw singles action in nine matches last season.

Also back with varsity experience is sophomore Rachel Silvio. She was in the lineup against Valley as a member of the No. 2 doubles team.

Romito said of the 11 freshmen, only a few have played previously, and patience will be the key as they gain experience.

“The main thing is making sure they are having fun and learning the game,” Romito said.

The team finished 7-10 last year.

Plum will compete in Section 3-AAA with Allderdice, Baldwin, Bethel Park, Fox Chapel, Oakland Catholic, Penn Hills, Shady Side Academy, Thomas Jefferson and Woodland Hills.

Each team will play the other nine teams in the section, and the top four teams will advance to the WPIAL team tournament.

Plum also will enter two players and two teams in the Section 3 singles and doubles tournaments. Section singles will be Sept. 12-13, with section doubles Sept. 26-27.

“Since we are so young, it will be nice to grow together as a team,” Lawrence said.

“We’ve been really supportive of each other, especially towards the girls who are playing for the first time this season. We’ve all shown positive progress so far.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

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