The Cavalier tennis team opens up their season at Thomas Dale on Mar. 17. 

Coming off of a promising 2021 showing, many key components from last year’s successes are returning to the court. 

With senior Nehemiah Kim and sophomore Tyler Gidelman likely taking the number one and two spots, respectively, the rest of the four open positions are open up to the field.  

Juniors Peter Squarzini and Nicholas Lyall are both players who are competing for these positions and are very excited for the upcoming tennis season. 

“I believe we did pretty good last season, [in fact] we actually made regionals,” Lyall said. 

Lyall, who did not participate in regionals due to his placement on the roster, is excited to possibly join the ranks this season.

Squarzini, on the other hand, will be amongst those named in a top six spot, however, he will have to adapt to playing outside again, which will be the toughest challenge for him. 

“I usually practice inside, so I am going to have to get used to playing with the wind,” Squarzini said. 

With the regular season quickly approaching and spots being challenged daily at practice, Lyall and Squarzini mention some of the tougher opponents that they will face in the regular season. 

“Cosby, James River and Midlothian [are going to be the hardest teams to beat],” Lyall said.

However, Lyall and Squarzini agree that beyond those three schools, the rest of the county should be easier opponents. 

With about two weeks of practice under each player’s belts, the opening game against Thomas Dale continues to approach with players’ excitement unleashing. Lyall and Squarzini are beyond thrilled for the 2022 season and believe that this year’s Cavalier team will once again qualify for regionals. 

“There was so much [camaraderie last year] in the games we played, as we were voting for our top six [to perform well, so we are all super excited to do it again],” Lyall concluded.