ROCKINGHAM – Last season, the Lady Raider tennis team rewrote the program’s record book, as it won its first ever postseason match, as it knocked off Pine Forest High School in the opening round of the state playoffs.
That team had nearly a dozen players on it, which doubles the forecasted team for the 2018 season.
After rain in the early part of the week pushed the start of tennis tryouts back a day, second-year head coach Mike Way has been in full-season mode as he’s only had six players attend tryouts. While the numbers are lower than he’d like, Way sees a lot of upswing in it as well.
“It’d be better to have a few more girls out here,” Way noted. “But it is better sometimes to have smaller numbers for the sake of being able to work more with each kid. With less players, they’re able to take more repetitions in drills, and it gives them more time to practice and get better.
“I had as many as 12 girls on the team last year,” he added. “With six this year, the competition amongst each other will push them to be better. And every girl knows her role on the court.”
The way it looks right now, all six Lady Raider players are seniors, with five of them being returning starters from a season ago. Those five are: Jayana Nicholson, Taylor Parrish, Emily Parsons, Greyson Way and Chloe Wiggins. New this year is rising senior Ashley Yepez, who is also new to the sport.
While it’s still technically a tryout period, Way has focused his team’s efforts into training for the upcoming season.
“We’re pretty much practicing at this point, and we’ll continue doing the same thing after tryouts are over,” Way explained. “Things have been going good — but we’re a little bumped and bruised right now. Most of the girls play other sports (at Richmond and during the summer), and that’s the kind of stuff you deal with when having athletes on your team.
“But having athletes will make us competitive,” Way continued. “The season starts so early, and it makes it a little bit more difficult to get a team together. But we’re trying to get ready for Pine Forest to open the season.”
None of the injuries are significant, as Parsons is dealing with blisters on her feet from a recent soccer tournament, and Way is nursing a minor ankle injury she sustained earlier in the summer.
In terms of what he’s had his six players working on, Way said it’s been a bit of a refresher course for his five returners. None of his players are true tennis players, as all five of his starters play at least one other sport at Richmond, which is their primary focus.
Right now, Way is working on teaching the ins and outs of the sports procedures and rules, and hopes everything will come full circle by the middle of the month when the season officially starts on Wednesday, Aug. 15.
