As the leaves turn orange and begin to fall, the Dowling campus is greeted by many familiar sounds—the squeak of shoes on a court, the thwack of rackets against fluorescent, yellow balls, and the claps of the parents, coaches, and players after successful attempts to score. All of these indicate that the Dowling Catholic Girls Tennis team is hard at work. But, the season looks different this year.
As opposed to past seasons, the Iowa Girls Tennis season has been moved from spring to fall, and the changes are visible. “It was challenging because we started three weeks before school which made things a bit crazy,” admits Coach Chalstrom, the Varsity Girls Tennis Head Coach. With the change in timing, their previous season ended just three months before this years’ season began. Nevertheless, the girls have been putting in tremendous work, and started their season three weeks before the rest of the student body went back to school.
With Coach Chalstrom’s leadership, the team has settled into the new atmosphere and found many positives in the new season. “The weather is way better,” states Chalstrom “and there is a lot more space since there’s only girls on the court”. One of the many positives that has come with the season shift is that the girls JV tennis team, of about 100 girls, gets more practice time since the girls team is the only one on the courts throughout the week.
More time on the courts is one upside, but the connection built between these girls seems to be stronger than before. “We’ve gotten really close this season due to playing from last spring into this fall,” Ella Larson, a senior on the varsity team, remarks. Rather than a year-long wait in between seasons, the girls experienced a quick turnaround from the 2024 season into the 2025 season. The bond of the girls has grown a lot, but many of the seniors are hoping to soak it all in before their final steps on the court. Mady Pierron, another senior on the team, admits that for her, this season is about “playing to the best of our ability by the end of the season and enjoying the last year with my teammates!”
With the in-season ended and the postseason in motion, the varsity girls aim for success following Victoria Bakros’ win at districts. “My main goal was to qualify, now it is to play individual state,” she admits, thinking about her final senior season. With the 2025 season coming to an end for the varsity team, the girls have big goals for success to finish the season out. Although the major changes have forced the tennis team to adjust to the new environment, the change in pace has granted them with a team bond stronger than ever. Coach Chalstrom claims that, “seeing how close girls have gotten and building the culture on the team makes it worth it.”
