By Steve Bigham

MILFORD – A comedy of errors.

On Monday of this week, the Newtown High School girls’ tennis team traveled to Milford for a match against Lauralton Hall. After being stuck for a time in traffic on Interstate 95, the bus finally arrived at its final destination – only to discover it was at the wrong place. Then, once the girls found the courts, they were informed there were no bathrooms.

They were promptly defeated.

They boarded the bus.

They headed back home.

For most, this would be considered a pretty bad afternoon, but not for the Newtown girls’ tennis team.

“These girls have great attitudes,” said first-year coach Kathy Davey, who has inherited a young and inexperienced group. “They laugh, they sing, they joke around. It was just a comedy of errors Monday. I didn’t get home until 10:30.”

Already faced with a very tough schedule, Newtown (0-3) was forced to do battle against powerhouse Lauralton Hall in Milford without a handful of key players. It made for some very quick matches Monday afternoon at Eisenhower Park, where the undermanned Nighthawks fell, 7-0.

After the match, the bus made a detour to McDonald’s for ice cream. Might as well have a little fun, Davey said. This is spring break, after all.

“They really stick together and are always cheering each other on,” Davey said.

It was not expected to get any easier this week as the girls were scheduled to host talented Weston on Wednesday.

The good news is that Sloane Schnell has returned from a week-long wedding and is back playing in the third singles spot. Freshman Brittany Meier, a soccer player, filled in admirably for Schnell during her absence and will now move to fourth singles.

Davey said she has considered using junior captain Caitlyn Martin in singles. Martin is one of the team’s top players, but has preferred to play doubles because of her love of the team game.