The Bearcat girls’ tennis team has seen its fair share of obstacles this season, but true to form, they handled them with grace and came out on top.

“Just continue to take one day at a time, one practice at a time, one match at a time, one point at a time and ... never give up,” Coach Eric Anderson said to his team. “They all work hard on a daily basis to make themselves and their teammates the best that they can be.

They are more than a team, they are a family.”

Anderson has been coaching the Bearcat tennis for 23 years and teaching at Ellsworth Jr./Sr. High School for 26.

“I grew up watching my brother and sister being successful in sports. My brother played college basketball at Butler Community College and Bethany College, sister was an all-state swimmer in high school,” he said, “so, I spent a lot of time in gyms and at the pool supporting them. As for me, I played high school basketball and tennis at El Dorado High School and then played college tennis at Butler Community College and Bethany College.”

The team he is coaching now consists of 18 students, though two of those had events take them out of the season early. Senior Sami Couch was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the beginning of the season and Cadence Halfhill was involved in a car accident about two weeks into the season. However, these two brave young women have been in their teammates’ hearts for the season as #SamiStrong and #CadenceStrong can be seen all over and their teammates have rallied for an amazing season.

“Our team has pulled together as a family to support Sami and Cadence and they have just taken one day at a time and try to get better daily as a student, player and person,” Anderson said. “They support each other on and off the tennis courts, and they spend a lot of time together away from the tennis courts.

“When someone isn’t playing their best tennis, the others are always there to support their teammate and they also step up their games to do whatever it takes to be successful as a team.”

Successful indeed, as the varsity ended its regular season with a first place win at home, which gave them eight first place finishes out of eight meets.

Not to be outdone by their counterparts, the junior varsity also ended the season with a first place win at Hays.

Considering the varsity is made up of three freshmen, two sophomores and one junior, this is a great feat for the young team.

“I would say that the future is very bright for these young ladies,nd overall, we only have three seniors, Sami Couch, Emma Salyers and Bekah Vague on the team, so we will return the majority of our team next season,” Anderson said. “As for the remainder of this season, I just would like for the girls to continue to take one day at a time, find some way to get better than they were the day before, to continue to do the little things and to stay humble. I believe that if we continue to do these things, everything else will fall into place at regionals and state.”

With the girls heading to Hesston for regionals Oct. 6 and 7 and then, if all goes well, to state in Topeka the next week, the team can use all the support they can get.

“I would just like to thank all of them for supporting our team. It is great to see faculty members, administrators and community members at our tennis meets supporting the girls. It means a lot to the kids,” Anderson said. “If you have never been to a high school tennis meet, please stop by sometime and spend an hour or two watching our student athletes compete. I promise that you will not be disappointed.”