Girls’ tennis team wins another division crown

By Briana Li '25

Captain Naischa Puri ‘23 hits a forehand during a home match.

As the fall sports season has come to an end, the Wardlaw + Hartridge girls’ tennis team has prevailed at the top of their division and has remained undefeated in league play. Their dominance is shown through their 12-0 record in the GMC tournament, thus marking an extraordinarily victorious season. The Rams were able to achieve such a formidable position through the hard work put in by both the athletes and coaches.

The tennis team was led by captains Naischa Puri ‘23 and Kapriana Payami ‘23, both of whom positively encouraged and mentored the other athletes on the team. Coach Ron Haynes expressed his sadness towards the departure of the captains and the rest of the seniors by saying, “I’m going to miss all of them, as you know, here at Wardlaw+Hartridge we have the advantage to get to know the girls since they were so young.” Sreeprada Arumilli ‘23, Giselle Lee ‘23, Nidhi Nimma ‘23, and Ariel Wang ‘23 are among the other key players who unfortunately concluded their last tennis season at W+H this fall.

Since the first year in which these seniors stepped on the court, W+H has been a fierce competitor in the division and has slowly climbed the ranks to number one. Thus, they were able to propel the Rams to maintain a flawless record throughout the 2022 fall season, in addition to making it to the quarterfinals of the non-public NJSIAA tournament. Coach Haynes said, “We look forward to the future. We’re going to lose six important seniors, but we’re looking to win the division next year.”

Another factor essential to the success of the girls’ tennis team is the role of supportive captains and role models, Naischa and Kapriana guided the newer Ram athletes and worked alongside JV Coach Janice White, who Coach Ron unofficially names his co-coach, to lead the girls in learning and excelling at tennis.

“As captain, I have been able to mentor my teammates in something I love as well as learn so much from them and their experiences,” Naischa said. “Getting to know every member of the team has been super exciting and interesting. The girls each bring something so unique and special. While the feeling is bittersweet as this is my final varsity tennis season after four years on the team, I am very excited to see what these girls accomplish in the future.”

There is no doubt that as the seniors leave and the younger girls move up to varsity, challenges will accompany them. However, with a last piece of advice, Naischa said to the continuing players: “To stay focused and to not be discouraged easily. Tennis is a tough sport but it can also be so thrilling and rewarding. There is so much to learn from it. Keep going and work hard! I’m so proud of how far you’ve come this season!”