Tougher schedule hoping to make difference for Sikeston girls tennis team

Friday, August 15, 2014
Sikeston tennis player Ali Price hits a forehand during practice on Tuesday afternoon. (David Jenkins photo)

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- After a disappointing finish to last year's postseason, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs' tennis team hopes a beefed up schedule this season will increase their chances come playoff time.

"We always strive to see the team advance out of district play," Sikeston head coach Russ Dial said. "At least individually and that didn't happen for us last season, however, we hope to change that this season.

"We have a tough schedule with four matches in the first week, but I think for the long-term the fast pace of the early season schedule will benefit us going into district play."

As Dial mentioned, the Lady Bulldogs have a busy first week as they open with back-to-back home meets against Jackson and Dexter on Aug. 26 and 27. Their third opponent in as many days will on the road against Poplar Bluff on Aug. 28.

Dial hopes the busy first week will lead to a sense of urgency as they spend this next week preparing for it, knowing a hot start would do his team good.

"It will force us to focus on getting things done in our pre-season practices efficiently and in a timely manner," Dial said. "Which will be a positive when it comes to our physical conditioning."

Though they lost much of their middle of the order players to graduation, the Lady Bulldogs return their top ranked netter in Ali Price. Hope Mannon, Ashlie Vaught and Brianna Basham are others who contributed at the varsity level last season who will fight to take over the vacated two, three and four spots in the lineup.

Sveral players are also expected to make the trnasition from junior varsity to varsity while newcomers Mackenzie Alsup and Allissa Garner will also compete for playing time.

"Since we always have players who have no previous tennis experience we want to get them to a point of readiness that will ultimately help our team win our dual matches," Dial said. "We want to turn them into competitive players before the season's end. As a team our goal is to try and win districts. Class 1, District 1 has some solid competition and our district winners, both team and individuals, usually stack up well against our District 2 sectional opponents,.

"So if we are fortunate enough to make it out of district play, advancement from sectionals would be another goal to strive for."

While a district title is always the goal, Dial admits his team had plenty to work on between now and the time districts roll around in late September.

Working on first serve percentages, footwork and not giving opponents an extra shot are some of the areas Dial emphasized as needing improvement. Others areas include being aggressive at the net, having a brick wall mentality on defense and a decrease in unforced errors.

"It is a lot to expect improvement in all of the areas we were weak in last season," Dial said. "However, due to the willingness of everyone on the team to focus on these areas of weakness and strive to become more physically and mentally fit players, these first several days of practice have given us all hope for a successful season."

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