The 2024 tennis season is well in motion as the Owensboro schools have already racked up multiple big wins. With the action just beginning, we reached out to local coaches to get their thoughts on the new season:
What are your expectations/goals for this year?
Apollo head coach Janie Walther: We graduated 8 senior girls last year, so we have several underclassmen on varsity. We will try to help them grow into their positions on the team.
Daviess County head coach Jack Etchison: Our goal is to win the region.
Owensboro head coaches Madeline Williams & Clay Ford: We have a mixed experience team, some that have been playing for years and some who have only been playing for a few weeks. We would like to see our returning players improve their game and return to state, the new players learn the game, and to foster a love for tennis within all of them.
Owensboro Catholic head coach Noel Clayton: Our goal each year is to win the regional tournament. We are excited for the new team championship that allows us to play an extra player with 3 singles and 2 doubles.
What will be the biggest challenges on the schedule?
AHS: Catholic’s girls are loaded, and we will try to stay upbeat when we play them. Grayson County boys will be the team to beat this year.
DCHS: No response given
OHS: All of our local teams, especially Owensboro Catholic will be tough, but also Grayson County, Henderson and Muhlenberg County have great programs that will challenge us to play our very best in order to have a chance to win.
OCHS: The Greenwood March Madness Tournament will be our most competitive matches as we will play 3 matches in 2 days for our boys and girls. Daviess County, Muhlenberg and Grayson are always very competitive matches. Also, on the girls side we will be playing Castle and Jasper which were 2 of the final four teams last year in Indiana.
Who are your top returning athletes and why?
AHS: Stetson Osborne and Sophey Jennings were both ranked in regionals and went to State. They both should be top players again.
DCHS: Seniors Parth Hatia and George Newton to provide leadership, and Allessa Hall and Alexa Salamah on the girls’ side.
OHS: Walker Gaddis (sophomore) and John Clay Ford (freshman) qualified for the state tournament as doubles partners last year. They have each found new ways to improve their game. Arlo Johnson is a great senior leader for our team and his doubles partner, Andrew Diebel, brings fun energy and tremendous effort to our group.
OCHS: Ella Cason will be going for a fourth consecutive regional championship this year. We also have 3 of the 4 doubles regional finalists with Isabell Reisz, Julia Marshall and Elizabeth Hayden. Cooper and Houston Danzer will be going for their 3rd consecutive regional doubles championship.
Who do you expect/need to step up and why?
AHS: We have some underclassmen I believe will make some marks this season. I really would like to see both boys and girls doubles to step up this year. We had some injuries last year that required changes late in the season which hurt us.
DCHS: Looking for a strong season from Landon McDuffee and Eli Bivens. Emmie Williams and Ella Boswell on the girls’ team as well.
OHS: Because they are all capable of more, we need everyone to step up their effort in practice and mental toughness in matches. It will be fun to watch them succeed and grow as young men. Anna Travis, Ellie Watson, and Ella Carter played up in our first singles matches of the season and pulled out the “w.” We hope to see this become a trend!
OCHS: On the girls’ side Maddie Meyer will be important for us and will be playing doubles and singles. Boys side we are looking for a breakout season for 8th grader Joseph Merchant who will be playing number 1 singles.
What areas are you hoping to improve on this year and why?
AHS: We had a 13-6 record for both teams last season. Lost several tiebreakers, which cost us matches. We had some breakdowns in our mental toughness last season.
DCHS: We are working on improving our overall game and consistency.
OHS: It depends on the player, but as a team, I hope we can improve on our mental toughness and ability to manage a point strategically. It will help us to pull out wins in close matches that could go either way. We are going to work on the technical aspects of the game, strategic play and communication, but one of our main areas of improvement is the mental aspect of the game. I hope this season helps to instill and/or improve that grit that keeps us going even when the game is tough!
OCHS: On the girls side we need to figure out our most competitive line ups and best match ups to allow us to win the most matches. We have some great athletes and a lot of versatility with our roster. The boys are very young with 2 seventh graders, 1 eighth grader, 1 freshman and 1 sophomore in our top 8 players so we just need practice and match play to get ready for the regional.
