With the state tournament approaching, the St. Paul Academy and Summit School Girls Varsity Tennis team is taking their game one step at a time. “I hope we stay focused on taking it one point at a time and not getting ahead of ourselves,” senior Aria Bryan said. The state tournament will begin on Oct. 22.

The team is led by senior captains Sonya Das, Sarah Colton, and Alida Mitau. Das knows what it is like to be state champions, after winning the Class A singles last season along with doubles champions Gina Nguyen (‘13) and Sarah Hays (‘13).

Senior doubles player Mary Merrill hopes that the team can bring their senior captains, who have played on the team since middle school, back to the state tournament. “I think they deserve to win state for their senior year,” Merrill said.

Besides their strength on the court, the team hopes that their chemistry will help them win. “Before we play, we stand in a little huddle and we have a pep talk. When we are on the court, we all try to cheer for each other to keep up the motivation and energy,” Merrill said.

The Spartans have seen vast improvement this season, and hope to take their momentum into section play.

“I know we have a lot of talent on the team,” Bryan said. “We need to apply ourselves and I know we will be great.”

The team will take on St. Paul Humboldt High School on Oct. 2 at SPA at 4:00 p.m. for the first round of team section play.