Wolverines girls tennis is having a rough start, but there appears to be progress.

Chaparral High School girls tennis had a 1-4 start with a handful of tough matches to ramp up the season. Wolverines coach Peter Weyhrich, who takes over as head coach this season, succeeding Ed Anderson, said he’s pleased with their progress though.

The Wolverines appear to show the most strength in the doubles departments. The No. 1 doubles team of Kiera Jackson and Alexa Johnston had a 3-2 start on their season. Also starting 3-2 was No. 2 doubles, Harmonie Edelson and Kristina Murri.

Only two players from last year’s varsity lineup returned to the Wolverines courts this season. Laura Peszek and Lindsey Wolfgang. Peszek assumes the No. 1 singles spot, while Wolfgang fills in the No. 3 singles role.

“They were both very solid doubles players and had great seasons,” Weyhrich said.

Chelsea Geier is the varsity team’s No. 2 singles player.

“The other girls have earned their spots by working extremely hard over the summer and participated in an indoor winter program,” the coach said.

In fact, Weyhrich said the players’ work ethic is the team’s greatest strength. Regardless of the score, winning or losing, the girls consistently give 100 percent on the court all the time, the coach said.

The biggest hurdle the Wolverines are dealing with, however, is their lack of experience.

“For nine of the 11 girls, this is their first varsity experience,” Weyhrich said. “We are getting better at it, but we need to be able to implement what we do on the practice court to the match situations.”

Being his first season as head coach, the adjustment has gone well despite the absence of long-time coach Ed Anderson from the position and assistant coach Barry Riddle, who is presently the head coach at Legend High School. The adjustment speaks to the character of the girls, Weyhrich said.

“I have been lucky enough to coach with them for the past few years as an assistant, so I think that has helped ease the transition as well,” he said.

Weyhrich was a four-year varsity player for Arapahoe High School and played college tennis for the University of Northern Colorado from 2002-2006. This is his third year coaching at Chaparral, where he also helps the boys program.

This summer, he is scheduled to be teaching tennis at the new Parker facility with Riddle.

“Having played tennis as a kid and through high school and college, it is an incredible experience to be on the other side with coaching and teaching,” Weyhrich said.