By: Inga Wegger
Tennis season is right around the corner and the players and coaches are preparing for a new season.
Coach Lute Olson is really excited about this spring going in as his second year as the girls tennis coach. “It's going to be a lot of fun to get back on the courts coaching this team with my dad, and we should have a great season. I fully expect us to be working towards state and competing for a championship once we get there.” This year, the Boone girls tennis team will be participating in 2A instead of 1A since they have some Gilbert girls who will be playing with them. This means they will be playing all of the big schools to qualify for state. “I'm definitely looking forward to working with our team and seeing the girls work hard every day in practice in order to improve and get better as tennis players and as people. That is our #1 goal.”
When asked about specific, measurable goals, Olson says; “I have a pretty high standard for our team, because I believe they can accomplish great things. Those goals are to go undefeated as a team during the regular season, both JV and Varsity, win the Boone Invitational, qualify at least 3 girls for individual state, make it to team state, and then once at state compete for a state title. All of these are definitely within our reach, but it will take a remarkable effort as a team to accomplish them. We will definitely not be favored to accomplish any of these goals, but that does not mean we shouldn't have them on the front of our minds.”
The team had a solid season last year even though they didn’t qualify with any individuals for state. This was Olson’s first year of coaching the Boone girls tennis team. “It can be tough on a team, especially upperclassmen, to have a brand new coach, but they were awesome at listening and being willing to change some things in how they played and practiced. That is a testament to the seniors and returners from last year as much as anyone.”
As for this season, the team’s entire varsity lineup is returning. In fact, 8 of the top 10 players from a year ago will be returning. “We will really rely on our seniors to lead this team. Their effort and attitude at practice and at meets will determine how this season goes, specifically our returning senior letter winners Breanna Sterenberg (voted as one of the coMVP’s last season), Carlie Romig, Sarah Statz, Joey Cornelis, and Bridget Good. As well as a talented group of seniors, we have a great group of juniors returning in Emma Rose (also voted as a coMVP by her teammates in 2015), Morganne Borsh, and Grace Krafcisin. Adding to this great group of upperclassmen is a freshman from Gilbert, Davi Patterson, who is one of the top players for her age in the state, so it will be fun to see how she plays into the mix as well.”
All in all, it should be a great 2016 tennis campaign for the Boone girls, and the journey starts on March 21.
Coach Lute Olson is really excited about this spring going in as his second year as the girls tennis coach. “It's going to be a lot of fun to get back on the courts coaching this team with my dad, and we should have a great season. I fully expect us to be working towards state and competing for a championship once we get there.” This year, the Boone girls tennis team will be participating in 2A instead of 1A since they have some Gilbert girls who will be playing with them. This means they will be playing all of the big schools to qualify for state. “I'm definitely looking forward to working with our team and seeing the girls work hard every day in practice in order to improve and get better as tennis players and as people. That is our #1 goal.”
When asked about specific, measurable goals, Olson says; “I have a pretty high standard for our team, because I believe they can accomplish great things. Those goals are to go undefeated as a team during the regular season, both JV and Varsity, win the Boone Invitational, qualify at least 3 girls for individual state, make it to team state, and then once at state compete for a state title. All of these are definitely within our reach, but it will take a remarkable effort as a team to accomplish them. We will definitely not be favored to accomplish any of these goals, but that does not mean we shouldn't have them on the front of our minds.”
The team had a solid season last year even though they didn’t qualify with any individuals for state. This was Olson’s first year of coaching the Boone girls tennis team. “It can be tough on a team, especially upperclassmen, to have a brand new coach, but they were awesome at listening and being willing to change some things in how they played and practiced. That is a testament to the seniors and returners from last year as much as anyone.”
As for this season, the team’s entire varsity lineup is returning. In fact, 8 of the top 10 players from a year ago will be returning. “We will really rely on our seniors to lead this team. Their effort and attitude at practice and at meets will determine how this season goes, specifically our returning senior letter winners Breanna Sterenberg (voted as one of the coMVP’s last season), Carlie Romig, Sarah Statz, Joey Cornelis, and Bridget Good. As well as a talented group of seniors, we have a great group of juniors returning in Emma Rose (also voted as a coMVP by her teammates in 2015), Morganne Borsh, and Grace Krafcisin. Adding to this great group of upperclassmen is a freshman from Gilbert, Davi Patterson, who is one of the top players for her age in the state, so it will be fun to see how she plays into the mix as well.”
All in all, it should be a great 2016 tennis campaign for the Boone girls, and the journey starts on March 21.
RSS Feed