With winter training under their belts and the first matches to be played on March 14, the Edwardsville boys tennis team was in a building year. Little did they know their season would be quite the opposite; destroyed.

No athlete would have expected that COVID-19 could disrupt their sports seasons in the way it did.

Fortunately, no seniors on the team means no one will miss out on perhaps their most memorable season yet. But for freshmen robbed of the chance to dip their toes into high school tennis after a winter of training, the situation continues to look bleak.

“Over the winter, a majority of the team go together at the YMCA to practice,” junior Ben Blake said. “Workouts were held at the high school.”

There are few options for tennis players especially. Parks and the YMCA being closed and no coach-organized practices until at least Mar. 30 means the players will need to practice at the EHS tennis courts which are still open.

“The good thing about tennis is that you’re almost 80 feet from your opponent,” Blake said.

A sad reality might be that the seasons for all IHSA sports may not resume and athletes that have worked for months to years on perfecting their craft will be left unsatisfied.

While the situation is out of anyones control, coach Lipe has given the athletes instructions to make the best of the situation and to try and stay in shape. Regardless of the season’s outcome, the Tigers still have another year with their teammates.

“We might have had one girls team with no seniors in the top six, but we’ve never had a team with no seniors period,” Lipe told the intelligencer. “It’s unique and I talked to the boys and said they should feel optimistic.”