Girls' Tennis focuses on positivity

By Mary McPartlin, Staff Writer

May 10, 2023

ROCKLAND- The Rockland Girls'Tennis season has begun once again now that spring has arrived!

Ms. Ariana Launie, a math teacher at Rockland, is the head coach of the team, alongside the assistant coach of Ms. Casey Morrison, a guidance counselor. Ms. Launie has been coaching the team for seven years now.

Ms. Launie said, “My first year [coaching], Mr. MacAllister was the head coach, and he found out that I had played tennis in college so he wanted me to help out, and then ever since then I’ve been the head coach.”

Ms. Launie attended Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

The team consists of 21 girls, with two team captains, seniors Esa DeFillipio and Kiara Miguel.

The two captains’ continuous positivity, Ms. Launie explained, “trickles down to the rest of the team” which she thinks is one of the team’s biggest strengths.

The team holds a record of 1-6, and Launie said despite this, the team has not given up and stopped trying. 

Ms. Launie explained, “[With] each loss we have figured out what we’ve done wrong so we’ve still been improving even though it’s been a losing record.”

Team captain Miguel said her favorite moment from the season so far has been the team dinner most of the team attended, where the players got to “know each other and have good conversations and just see everyone have fun.”

Sophomore Emily Gustaven is new to the tennis team this year.

All the tennis players, she explained, have been incredibly welcoming to her which has helped ease her anxieties.

“[Joining] the team was stressful at first, but then it was really fun,” Gustaven explained.

Getting to meet new people and make new friends from the team has been her favorite part of playing for Rockland.