The Marauder tennis team's biggest opponent is not Leilehua. It is not Pearl City either. Instead, the players' biggest obstacle is adjusting to a new coach. For over ten years, Denise Yamada has been coaching the tennis team. Day after day, students have piled into her room for study hall then migrated downstairs to the tennis court for daily practices.

This year a change has arisen. Instead of piling into Yamada's room, the team has been piling into Kai Bouchard's room. Yamada elected Bouchard, former assistant coach as her replacement.

Not only does the team have a new coach, but they also have seen many new faces this year. "There are about 40 players on the team," said senior Shane May Retotal. "Practice feels different, but it is because of the overwhelming amount of people on the team," said sophomore Arbie Campupos.

Despite the new members and the large team, the season looks promising because the tennis team now has a whole team roster for every game.

Last year, the Waipahu tennis team played in the OIA championships, but did not take the title. This year is going to be Waipahu's transitional year, and all of the players are hoping to do well. "Hopefully, we do well ranking-wise because I want to win some games," said freshman Sasha Aliser.

The team will be playing in the girls' JV division and the varsity division for the boys and girls. The girls' JV team has only three returning players from last year, sophomores Shireen Flores, Rendi Nagata, and Jamie Daez, while Flores and Nagata were chosen as team co-captains. They all hope that the new sophomores and freshmen are ready for a tough, but fun season. "The more people, the better because it is more fun with more people and you have a chance to meet new people," said Nagata.

The varsity team doesn't start the season until March, so until then they will be conditioning. The team will be running a mile at every practice and will be doing running drills to get into shape for their season. While conditioning, the varsity team will be helping the JV team. "Conditioning is not my favorite thing, but I find it necessary for our season," said Nagata.