The Sedona Red Rock High School tennis team, led by Head Coach Andrew Ellis in his third year with the program, will begin its 2025 season at home on Tuesday, March 18, at 3:30 p.m. against the Kingman Bulldogs.
Senior Olivia Glatt said the opening game is one of the team’s matches that she is most looking forward to because she regards them as a high-level opponent.
“I’m looking forward to this year because I’ve learned how to better my serve and how to play with and against many different players,” Glatt, who plans to attend college on the east coast, said.
“We have a majority of seniors playing this season,” Ellis said. “So my goals are, one, a good senior year for the seniors … and then trying to build the team with some underclassmen. Because we are going to be very short next year if we don’t build the team … I’m going to be working with trying to get over to the [Sedona] Charter School to present the tennis program to them.”
The Scorpions tennis team won no games during its 2024 season, posting a record of 0-9, which had followed its 0-11 record in the 2023 season. Ellis said lack of attendance was the primary cause for the team’s losses.
“That was unfortunate,” Ellis said. “However, the girls had a great time … We had great sportsmanship every time we played. They have other things going on in their lives, and I feel like times have changed since I was a kid. Back then, you didn’t have a job or a million things to do outside of school, you could just go play sports after school. The world has changed. If you don’t adapt, you’re not going to have a sport. So I’d rather adapt a little bit and have girls playing tennis, then be so strict that it dies.”
However, Ellis added that he thought “this team has a chance to go undefeated,” which it last did during the spring of 2021 with a 10-0 regular season record broken by Veritas Prep in the state finals. Ellis added that this team “has a chance to go to the tournament at the end.”
The biggest change from last year’s team is the addition of two recent transfers from Florida, senior Ashley Calogero and her younger sister, freshman Emily Calogero.
“I started playing tennis around seven,” Ashley Calogero said. “I got into tennis because of my mom and my sister. And when we used to live in Florida, we would take lessons at the tennis club that we went to, and it blossomed … It’s my senior year now and I’m able to play on the team, and I’m excited for the season.”
Calogero said her teammates have already advised her to control the pace of a match.
“Liv [Olivia Glatt] likes to hit with a lot of topspin and the balls often go low instead of like an arc, like a rainbow,” Calogero said. “So what I learned is called ‘breaking the pace.’ So, for example, we would have an intense rally, but then to break the pace, I would hit a very high [ball] with lots of topspin to slow down the intensity.”
“We have a strong anchor for the team in Emily [Calogero] … she’s a top player,” Ellis said. “She’s going to be probably making it eventually into the state championship.”
Emily Calogero described her playing style as that of an aggressive baseliner and said powerful groundstrokes and her serve were her strongest assets.
“I really just want to improve. I don’t care too much about my personal wins or losses. I just want to practice and get better for this year for future years,” Emily Calogero said.
“I’ve played, but I’ve never played for a team. My dad plays tennis, so I used to go hit with him a bit,” sophomore Rubin Lyn said.
Lyn said that her goal for her debut season is to hold her own in matches, which she said she feels well prepared to do because of her cardiovascular experience in track and field.
“I’ve been playing tennis for a long time, but I just want an excuse to play more,” junior Reymond Papas-Collins said. “I don’t particularly care to compete, but in my tennis class usually I can hit pretty consistently … I’m trying to work on my strength, and we’re all just trying to get to a similar level, and trying to figure out our dynamics and what we all need to improve in.”
SRRHS Tennis Roster
Not pictured: Valentina Ramos, Adriana Lazalde, Daisy Nez and Belle Gray
