With a second-year program, Peter Gagnon doesn’t expect to make the playoffs. He expects more.

The Bedford High School girls tennis coach expects his team to improve on last season’s 8-6 record. The Bulldogs are on their way following a 3-1 start.

“It’s not my goal to make the playoffs this year,” said Gagnon. “It’s my goal to win in the playoffs. We’re one year older, stronger and faster, and we’re starting to show we’ll be someone to compete with.”

Kirsten Jean leads the Bulldogs as the top-seeded player, and the junior has won three straight following a loss in her opening match of the year. During the state singles tournament last year, Jean reached the semifinal round as a sophomore, an experience Gagnon said left her hungry to improve.

One of the most dramatic shifts from last season to this year comes in the No. 2 spot, where Jacinda Williams has found a home after being the ninth player at Gagnon’s disposal last year.

At the end-of-season awards presentation in 2008, Gagnon gave his players a calendar to emphasize the importance of offseason preparation. The players were told to mark the days they took to the courts.

Williams, now a sophomore, returned to tryouts with 108 days marked off on her calendar. Following Williams is junior Lauren Pritchard in the third spot on the Bedford ladder, with soft-spoken Ally Mahoney, freshman Steph Johnson and sophomore Lauren Heestand rounding out the rotation.

Johnson holds a 4-0 individual mark for the Bulldogs, and Gagnon calls her a sponge who has soaked in all of the tips given to her.

The coach also said the players on the court aren’t the only ones responsible for the team’s early victories.

“Bedford has a lot of people passionate about tennis, and I think our record last year reflected that,” said Gagnon. “We got a sense of where we stacked up against some of the better teams in Class I.”

The Bulldogs’ setback in 2009 came in a 6-3 home match with defending champion St. Thomas, but Gagnon said a rematch could end differently.

“We played well, but I think later in the year if we have to face them again we would have an outstanding shot of upsetting them,” said Gagnon. “There’s no one on our schedule that we feel like we can’t be at least in the match with.”