By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT — A new tennis season gets underway as Staples High’s girls team takes to the court against New Canaan, which hosts the visiting Wreckers starting at 4 p.m.

Coach Jennifer Wider’s squad features strong returning talent led by senior captains Rhiya Anand (first doubles), Emma Kantor and Bridget Menninger — all part of the doubles lineup.

The team also includes returning seniors: Lola Lamensdorf (first doubles) Maddie Hendley (doubles lineup) and Sadie Yanks (singles); juniors: Isa Alfageme (doubles) Rachel Guzman (doubles), Devyn Peffer (new to the team/doubles); sophomores: Tatum Keefe who will likely play first singles, Amelia Berkowitz (singles lineup), Aanya Gandhi (singles) and Dylan Lehrer (doubles), and freshmen: Liv Lazar (singles) and Azita Vazhayil (singles and doubles)

“We are coming off of a season where we finished No. 2 in the State of Connecticut. I am looking forward to another successful season with this team of girls,” Wider said. 

“We have strong players returning and we’ve added some very talented players to the roster,” she added. “I’m fortunate to coach in such a supportive environment where our players encourage each other, celebrate wins together and lift each other up after losses.”

Staples will look to pick up as many wins as it can in a tough conference loaded with some of the state’s best. 

The Wreckers’ toughest competition will likely come from two-time FCIAC champion New Canaan and Greenwich, which defeated Staples in last year’s state championships. 

Wider is optimistic the Wreckers have the right combination of returning skill and strong newcomers to make another deep playoff run this spring.

“We’ve added some very talented, young players to our team this year which is adds a significant amount of depth to our lineup and will help us tremendously in match play,” the coach said.

Among the matches to circle on the schedule is an April 28 home contest with Wilton at 4 p.m. (Game schedules are subject to change; click for the latest CIAC updates.)

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s. Learn more about us here.