Bulldog swatters have deep roster
<p>Chaffin Ross buries an overhead smash in a doubles match with teammate Austin Reece on Thursday in Whitefish.</p>
The Whitefish boys tennis team has high hopes entering the season with a core of returning players ready to get to work.
Sophomore singles players Max Smyley and Eric Holdhusen, along with doubles duo Chaffin Ross and Ryan Brown all are back on the court after making an appearance at last year’s State A boys tennis tournament.
That core will be surrounded by a deep group of tested hitters, like senior Nathan Fauth, and juniors Thomas Carloss and Ethan Potthoff.
“I think we’re going to have a really strong foundation,” said boys coach Chris Schwaderer. “We have a lot of depth, and a lot of those kids are bigger and stronger and they’ve played more in the offseason.”
All totaled, 23 boys came out for the team this spring.
Schwaderer says his top singles players are already looking sharp.
“Max looks great and his strokes keep getting better,” he said. “He should be one of the top players in the state.”
“Eric is always dependable, and he’s gotten better over the winter and looks really good and consistent.”
The coach says with so much depth, he’ll be faced with some tough decisions on deciding who should play where in the rotation.
“It’s a good problem to have,” he said. “We have the luxury of finding the best chemistry and combinations.”
With valley snow long gone, the team has already hit the courts at Grouse Mountain for practice.
“We usually don’t get snow off the court until the end of March, and then it takes awhile to get our momentum going,” Schwaderer said. “The fact that we can get out and swing the racquet is great.”
Schwaderer says a team goal is to aim for the Northwest A divisional crown.
“We just missed it last year,” he said. “We’re always shooting for the divisional title.”
The Northwest A now includes Stevensville after Libby dropped to Class B.
Schwaderer has brought on assistant coach Kim Codiga to lead the JV team.
“He’s a tennis guy and will be a good match with the kids,” he said.
Whitefish opens the season April 9 with matches at Polson against the Pirates and Dillon.