'Dogs look to 'leave some skin on the court'

Strong at the top and balanced in the

middle. Whitefish boys tennis coach Chris Schwaderer is impressed

with how the program is shaping up for the 2011 season as it looks

to build on last year’s surprise run.

“I wasn’t sure about our depth at first

since we lost a few of our top players,” Schwaderer said. “But I’m

pretty happy with where we’re sitting right now.”

Senior Jake Morison looks to be the

likely No. 1 singles player. He played in the No. 2 slot for most

of last season behind 2010 graduate Joel Mallams.

“He and Mallams were evenly matched,”

Schwaderer said. “I don’t think we’ll have any drop off at No. 1.

Jake is athletic, has good skills and has the right mind-set to

play at the top.”

Newcomer Camp Kenyon joins the team

this spring and may fill the No. 2 position. He’s a transfer from

Hellgate High School in Missoula, which won the state Class AA

tourney last season.

“Camp comes from a good program,”

Schwaderer said. “It was a very pleasant surprise to see him hit

the ball. He’s an all-around athlete.”

Juniors Connor Ellis and Austin Sattler

are penciled-in to be the No. 1 doubles team.

About 15 players came out for the team,

down from past year, but Schwaderer likes the potential he sees in

the younger players. Morison is the only senior on the squad now,

although others may join later in the year.

“I’m encouraged by the freshmen that

came out,” Schwaderer said. “They seem to have some real talent and

a few could find a spot in the rotation.”

The team hopes to improve on their

second-place finish at the divisional tourney in 2010, but

Schwaderer says his goals this year are simply for the team to go

out, compete and play with heart in every match.

“I want to be competitive and always go

into the matches expecting to win, wanting to win,” Schwaderer

said. “We learned last year that if you have heart and competitive

instinct, you can gut it out a little bit. I want guys to leave it

all on the court — there’s nothing wrong with leaving a little skin

on the court.”

Whitefish kicks off the season

Saturday, April 9, with home duals against Polson and Bigfork. Due

to snow still on the courts in Whitefish, the dual may be switched

to a different location.