New Pirates look old, again
Photo by Sarah Leavenworth -- Pirate standout Karston Erickson concentrates on his backhand stroke at practice.
By Trent Makela / Leader Staff
Polson's girls' and boys' tennis teams find themselves entering a time warp for the 2008 season. The girls graduated four senior cornerstones, yet return with four eerily-similar varsity anchors. The boys graduated one player from last year's team, yet still do not return a single senior.
"Both teams are kind of moving opposite directions, but stayed in the same spot," Polson coach Bob Hislop said. "I think the boys will be better from top to bottom this year. We lost our best player from last season, but everybody else comes back a year better. The girls are backwards. We'll really need to develop our depth around a core of really talented players."
The four seniors prepared to carry the Lady Pirates are Malika Erickson, Mattea York, Cassie Ward and Madison Gredetz. Another returning player, junior Cali Hislop, should be a key varsity contributor as well. All five players helped Polson upset Whitefish for last season's divisional title. Three of them - Erickson, York and Hislop - made it to state as parts of doubles teams.
The Pirates will feature two seniors, Shawn Medland and Steve Bertsch, who will vie for varsity time this season. Neither played in 2007, but hope to help their team improve on a third-place finish at last year's divisional tournament.
"Steve played as a sophomore and freshman. Shawn has just played around with the guys mostly," Hislop said. "We're really hoping they can improve and eventually help us out on varsity this year."
The cupboards are nearly bare for the girls' team in the middle classes, with just two juniors and two sophomores out this season. The heavy group of freshmen flooding the courts this season, though, will eventually be able to bolster the team's numbers.
"The boys have a real nice group of juniors that play doubles and singles or mix both," Hislop said. "The sophomores will probably be the strongest boys' class this year. One of them, Karston Erickson, will probably be our best player. A junior, Tyler Engerbritz, will be up there as well."
The Lady Pirates will be hoping to repeat as divisional champions, but the seniors will likely be looking for more after getting a taste of state last year.
"If all things fall together, our girls do have a chance to get a trophy at state," Hislop said. "The Whitefish boys are so good this year, most guys are shooting for second place. I think we have the potential to grab that second spot."