Tennis team hopes to place within the top 10 at the State Championship

Photo+courtesy+of+John+Willard.+

Photo courtesy of John Willard.

The boys’ varsity tennis team placed second at regionals on Thursday, qualifying them to compete for the state championship this weekend.

The team practiced and worked hard in preparation for the match, according to David Scupholm ‘17, one of the players.

“We practiced and played a lot of matches this year,” Scupholm said. “We knew we would be ready to play well.”

At the practices, the team focused on doubles and singles scrimmages, according to Patrick Willard ‘17, team captain. Patrick said he was proud of the way the team performed.

The team played skillfully at regionals,” Patrick said. “It showed that everyone had improved from the start of the season.”

Coach John Willard is also proud of the way his team played.

I was very proud of the boys,” John, Patrick’s father, said. “They have worked hard in practice to prepare for this day and it showed. It was a team effort to advance to the State Tournament.”

The team hopes to do well at states this weekend. They placed 8th last year, their goal is to make the top ten.

“We always hope to finish in the top ten, but I know the boys will compete to their best ability each and every match and that is what is important,” John said.

In order to be successful at states, the team has focused on winning match by match and plenty of upperclassmen leadership, according to John.

We won a very tough MAC Red Division Championship this year,” John said.  Our first goal of the season was to win the division championship, our second goal was to qualify for the State Championship. Our team has a lot of depth this year and I will counting on the experienced players for leadership.”

The team is eagerly anticipating their advance to more competitions and hopes of personal achievement, according to Scupholm.

“We will prepare for the state tournament by keep doing what we are doing,” Patrick said. “Working on the shots we felt let us down during regionals in hope of suring them up for states.”