The Press-Dispatch
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D-8 Spring Sports Preview Wednesday, April 4, 2018 The Press-Dispatch LADY CHARGER TENNIS SQUAD HOPES TO SERVE UP MORE WINS IN 2018 Pictured above is the 2017-2018 Pike Central High School girls' tennis team. They are, first row, left to right: Kenley Beck, Zoey Davis, Shelby Ridao, Grace Brandle, Makayla Stanley and Aalyah Landazuri. Second row: Kirsten Jansen, Grace Smith, Jadyn Ashby, Cass Conder, Gretchen McCrary, Meredith Benson and Katie Spalding. Third row: Head Coach Brent Beck, Audrey Keepes, Adair Kabrick, Chloe Roy, Hannah Beane, Shelby Vaughn and Assistant Coach Jill Keepes. Ed Cahill photo 2018 GIRLS' TENNIS Obermeyer H O N D A - YA M A H A - S U Z U K I 2501 Newton St (HWY 231 N) Jasper, IN 47546 www.obcycle.com 866-YAMAHA-6 GREAT SELECTION! GREAT SELECTION! By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School girls' tennis team –after going 1- 16 last year, including 0 -8 against Pocket Athletic Conference foes – has nowhere to go but up. While the Lady Chargers be- gan the 2017 season with just one player with varsity experi- ence, head coach Brent Beck has 10 returners – including all seven of last year's starters – and eight first-year players to begin the 2018 campaign. "We've got our core group of kids back, we had a handful of kids that didn't come back from last season, and we have a new handful of kids," Beck said. "I feel we're much better off at this point this year than we were last year. At least they have a pretty good idea as far as what expectations are and what it is that we're try- ing to do." Returning for Pike Central are seniors Jaydn Ashby, Cass Cond- er and Gretchen McCrary; ju- niors Meredith Benson, Kirst- en Jansen and Grace Smith; and sophomores Hannah Beane, Adair Kabrick, Audrey Keepes and Shelby Vaughn. The 10 returners have been joined by junior Katie Spalding, sophomore Chloe Roy, and fresh- men Kenley Beck, Grace Brandle, Zoey Davis, Aalyah Landazuri, Shelby Ridao and Makayla Stanley. Conder posted a team-high six wins last season – one at No. 2 sin- gles and five at No. 3 singles – and will likely see action at either No. 1 or No. 2 singles or at No. 1 dou- bles, Beck said. "Actually, Cass would be an ideal doubles player," said Beck of Cond- er, who played at No. 2 doubles on the varsity level as a sophomore. "That's not something that we're not looking at. Ideally, that's prob- ably where I'd like to have her." "Maybe early on, since we've not been able to focus on doubles, she may have to play some singles," Beck added. "But I'd like to may- be let her play some doubles this season, if that's an option, because her baseline game is good, she vol- leys very well, serves the ball well, and she's very athletic." Benson, who posted one win at No. 1 singles last season, will like- ly play either No. 1 or No. 2 sin- gles, Beck said. "She played, I believe, No. 1 sin- gles for the most part last year," Beck said. "More than likely, she'll be at No. 1 or No. 2 this year, either her or Cass, depending on how the lineup goes." Vaughn, who posted two wins at No. 2 singles as a freshmen, will play at either No. 2 or No. 3 singles this season, Beck said. "If Cass and Meredith are at No. 1 singles and No. 2 singles, then Shelby will probably be at No. 3 singles," Beck said. "If Cass is at No. 1 doubles, then Shelby will be at No. 2 singles, and then we've got to find someone for that No. 3 sin- gles spot. That'll be kind of the mystery spot." Sophomore Audrey Keepes and junior Kirst- en Jenson, who teamed up to win three matches at No. 1 doubles last season, will see action on one of the two doubles teams, Beck said. "Audrey, more than likely, will probably be at one of the dou- bles spots, ide- ally probably at No. 1," Beck said. "She'll proba- bly be pairing up with Kirsten at doubles, maybe even possibly with Cass, once we decide who to put Cass with." "But with Audrey and Cass, if they do play at No. 1 doubles, that would be a very, very, very athletic No. 1 doubles group," Beck added. "They could possibly be a tough out if we can maybe get them to gel a little bit." If Conder is paired up with Keepes at No. 1 doubles, Jansen would likely move to one of the two spots on the No. 2 doubles team, Beck said. "She's improved her fitness lev- el, and she's improved her serv- ing," Beck said. "She's done a re- ally nice job for us this spring as well." Beck said that as many as six players – Beane, Kabrick, Mc- Crary, Roy, Smith and Spalding – are competing for the remaining open spots. Last season, Smith teamed up with Ashby to post one win at No. 2 doubles. "If we play Cass at No. 1 dou- bles, that would open up a No. 3 singles spot, and then a No. 2 dou- bles spot," Beck said. "So we have six kids kind of competing for those spots, and it might take us a whole week to kind of get things figured out." The six freshmen, meanwhile, will mostly see action this season on the junior varsity level under the tutelage of Beck's assistant coach, Jill Keepes. "Kenley did come out and work with us last summer, but, as far as these other kids, they are pretty much new to tennis," Beck said. "Jill's kind of taken those kids un- der her wing and she's been work- ing with those, and I've been kind of focusing on that group. That's how we've been going about things so far." Beck said that he was reluctant to make any predictions as far as how many matches the Lady Char- gers will win this year, but remains optimistic. "Last year, we didn't compete a lot," Beck said. "There were proba- bly maybe five, six, seven matches that we competed in. We only won one match. I feel at least this year we should be competitive for the most part. I'm not setting any goals as far as winning matches, but just going in and competing this year and kind of going from there." "Every year when I come in, I always want to win more than we lose," Beck added. "You always want to have a winning record. That certainly would be nice, and I think it's definitely a possibility. I mean, we've got kids who have been through a season of varsity tennis and they kind of took their lumps, but they have improved. So that's kind of a goal of mine, per- sonally. We're just going to have to see if that plays out or not." In regard to the PAC, Beck said that he was hoping that Pike Cen- tral will finish somewhere in the middle of the pack. "There are some really solid teams," Beck said. "Last year, I know Gibson Southern was a real- ly solid team, and they're probably going to be tough as nails again. Heritage Hills has a solid team this year. Their No. 1 and their No. 2 could go out and compete with a lot of boys' teams. They are that good." "I don't think we're quite ready for probably those top teams, but the rest of the pack, we should at least be able to have an opportuni- ty on most nights anyway," Beck added. Beck, the schools' longtime boys' tennis coach, took over the girls' tennis program for the first time last year, which he described as an eye-opening experience. "A lot of it last year, I was pretty naive," Beck said. "It was kind of an eye-opener because there were a lot of really good tennis teams last year. I don't know if it was just kind of the way things lined up, but it seemed like every time a team came in, they'd be, like, 'Ye- ah, we're having a pretty good year this year. We're 10 -2.' And the next team would come in, 'Yeah, we're 11-3.' It seemed like every team was senior, senior, senior, senior. There was not a cupcake on the schedule." "We've got some kids that have been doing some good things this spring, that did some good things We've got our core group of kids back, we had a handful of kids that didn't come back from last season, and we have a new hand- ful of kids. I feel we're much bet- ter off at this point this year than we were last year. At least they have a pretty good idea as far as what expectations are and what it is that we're trying to do." -Head Coach Brent Beck See TENNIS on page D-10