By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern girls tennis team is looking to improve on its four-win campaign from one short year ago and returns some experience to the courts.

Led by senior and number one singles player Brooke Treannie, the Lancers are still growing by the match and look to improve position by position along the way.

Here’s a quick look at the BEHS girls tennis team this year:

Head Coach: Barbara Lessard (eighth season)

Last Year: 4-11 overall; 4-2 in CCC South play

Key Losses: Brianna Kelley, Jena Cefaly, Ashlee Lewandoski, Brie-Anna McCann, and Gina D’Angelo

Players to Watch: Brooke Treannie (sr) No. 1 singles, Adrianna Reay (so), and Ava Gesner (so). Most of the team’s positions are yet to be determined.

Outlook: The squad won a combined nine matches over the last two scholastic seasons and improved by one match in CCC South confrontations over that same timeframe.

The Lancers return three important players to the team this year in the form of senior Brooke Treannie and sophomores Adrianna Reay and Ava Gesner.

Lessard is still figuring out where all her players fit in the lineup, but the one known position will be Treannie being the number one singles player for the Lancers.

Treannie was the regular at No. 2 last year, winning several of her matches at that position.

Will that mean Gesner moves up the ladder in singles play?

The then freshman played at both third and fourth singles for the Lancers in 2021.

And Reay earned plenty of valuable experience playing at No. 2 doubles last year with a couple different partners.

She won a match or two along the way and should be improved over her second varsity campaign.

This team will continue to learn and develop over the season and should be better as the second half of the campaign approaches.

“We are a developing team,” said Lessard about her program. “Our goal is to improve both individually and as a team, work on strategies and enjoy the game of tennis.”

Matches to Watch: Eastern opens the 2022 campaign on the road at Simsbury on Monday (3:45 p.m.) and starts the home portion of its schedule this Friday against Tolland – also at 3:45 p.m.

Starting on April 21 against Avon, the Lancers are home for four straight matches.

And, of course, the big showdown takes place on May 20 as Eastern tangles with Bristol Central on the road.