This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Manchester Essex girls tennis team.
After graduating their No. 1, 2 and 3 singles players last year, the Hornets appeared to be unlikely to duplicate 2007's 13-2 record and trip to the Division 2 North semifinals. But who would've thought a seventh-grader would show up to tryouts in March and help save the day?
Meet 13-year-old Brittany Collens, a Manchester resident, who has taken the Cape Ann League (CAL) tennis circuit by storm. Playing No. 1 singles for the Hornets, the young right-handed prodigy had posted a 7-0 personal record going into yesterday's matchup against Ipswich, and Manchester Essex was off to a surprising 6-1 start.
"I didn't know anything about her coming up," said Manchester Essex head coach Jeanne Stanton of Collens. "All of the spots were wide open, and in order to play No. 1 you have to defeat everyone in tryouts. So she established herself early and proved she was the best player."
So how did the rest of the team, particularly the veterans, accept the fact that a seventh-grader was indeed that good?
"I already knew a lot of the girls on the team and they were all so nice to me," said Collens, who gave up playing basketball and softball to concentrate on tennis. "I was still a little bit intimidated and nervous going into tryouts."
In the final match to determine Manchester Essex's No.1 player at tryouts, Collens faced a familiar face. It was one of her best friends, junior Anneliese Eaton. No matter the outcome, Collens would've been happy.
"We both had a really good match," said Collens, who also plays for a team at Manchester Athletic Club. "We both really wanted to play No. 1, but we were joking around during the match and we were both really relaxed. I wasn't going to be disappointed either way."
Since then it has been smooth sailing for the Hornets. They lost their first match of the year to Division 1 Masconomet, but had won their last six coming into yesterday, with five of those being by a score of 5-0.
Like her team, Collens has also been getting more dominant as the spring progresses. She won in three sets in both of her first two matches this year, but since then has closed out each match in two sets.
"Brittany is constantly improving her game, even though she is already playing so well," said Stanton, who is in her seventh year coaching the girls team, after coaching the Manchester Essex boys for seven years. "She has a very nice baseline game, hits a great deep ball and waits for her opening.
"She is very competitive on the court. She is self-motivated and you can really tell she wants it."
While her skills will continue to improve, Collens points to her mental makeup as the key for good tennis.
"I think my confidence level is the most important thing," said Collens. "You have to be mentally tough and I try not to let anything upset me on the court. I've been discovering a lot about my game. I'm using more slice now, which I never knew I had, and I've been working on a new serve."
Bad news for the rest of the CAL teams, who will have to deal with Collens for the next five years. In fact, Manchester Essex, as a team, will be a force to be reckoned with for quite a while. The majority of the squad is comprised of underclassmen, which leaves plenty of room for more improvement.
"We have done really well and I think we'll go pretty far," said Collens. "People are surprised at how good we've been with such a young team."
THE COLLENS FILE
Name: Brittany Collens
Age: 13
Grade: Seventh
School: Manchester Essex
Sport: Tennis
Favorite Player: Ana Ivanovic
