Good turnout for tennis teams

It's a rare spring when Whitefish's tennis teams are able to get on the hard court this early in the season. Typically, players are wielding snow shovels as often as racquets in the first weeks of practice clearing the court of snow.

"In the 10 years I've been here, I've never known to have the tennis team on the court this early," boys coach Chris Schwaderer said.

With the courts snow-free since mid-March, both teams had a chance to get in some valuable practice time that should help alleviate any rusty swings or serves come the season-opener this Saturday against Bigfork.

"It's benefited us a ton," girls coach Mike Watson said. "We've been hitting and working on our fundamentals for two weeks."

The boys team fielded 20 players this season, including nine seniors.

"Six of those seniors have decent tennis experience," Schwaderer said. "So that's really encouraging."

Senior Tyler Schiff will likely be one of the top tennis seeds, and Joel Mallams and Jake Morison will be a top doubles team.

"Tyler is really sound with good fundamentals, and he's a good team leader," Schwaderer said. "I see him making a big contribution.

"Joel and Jake are really athletic and I think they could make an impact."

Schwaderer also pointed to Jacob Washer, saying that he's been impressive in practice and that he has some solid skills to build on.

The team's overall goal is to be competitive, have fun and hopefully bring home a divisional title.

For the Lady Bulldogs, first-year coach Watson is excited to have seven returning seniors to pilot a roster that is 25 players deep.

"We have a lot of experience," Watson said. "The seniors will lead the way this year and help develop the underclassmen."

Seniors Meredith Reed and Cortney Wilder will probably be the top singles players, and seniors Anne Miller and Hannah Weaver will lead in the doubles.

Reed and Wilder play opposite styles of tennis, according to Watson, but both control the court well. Reed is more of a go-getter, he said, while Wilder is a thinker and likes to set up her shots.

As a season-long goal, the team wants to make some noise in the division and qualify for state.

"We want to represent Whitefish really well and hopefully bring some hardware home," Watson said.