Pirates' tennis refines their game
The Polson Little Guy wrestling team (from left): Trent Wilson, Owen McElwee, Jarrett Wilson, Brenden Griffin, TK Hawkins, Gavin Knutson, Irish Cenicola, Ryley Knutson. Missing from photo: Max Ramesar (4th grade), Andrew Cook, Keiton Flamand, Brian Lyles, Tyren Stidham, Jaren Keene, Jeff Devlin, Logan Adler, Aaron O’Roake. (Photo courtesy of Ethan Bucarey)
Polson High School girls coach Bob Hislop said he is “happy” with the progress the Lady Pirates team has made after his team’s first few matches of the season.
Hislop said he is always studying his team trying to find the right combination of players but his team has showcased a lot of promise in the early portion of the season.
The Lady Pirates’ coaching staff is especially excited about the progress that Shea McGuinness, Kyler Lundeen, Qia Harlan and Berkley Ellis have made in the early portion of the season but is still trying to solidify the roster. Over the course of the tennis season players like Harlan devoted over 130 hours of practice time with the Lady Pirates’ coaching staff over the summer in order to improve their game.
“I am still trying to plug some other girls in (different spots),” Hislop said. “I study our roster and there is a lot of pretty intense competition for spots. There are still other girls that haven’t truly stepped up in certain spots. We have only played three matches and we are still trying to get players settled into their roles.”
Currently, Hislop is mixing and matching doubles combinations to try to find the correct combination so the team component of his tennis team can continue to flourish.
The Polson Lady Pirates and Pirates tennis teams have the philosophical approach to be as competitive and intense as they can be during practice so their actual matches aren’t as challenging.
“When we have the success that our girls have had, sometimes our practices are better competition for our kids than our matches,” Hislop said.
The Lady Pirates look to continue to improve as they make progress towards yet another District title.
“We just need to have some of our younger players come and give these three girls some help,” Hislop said. “They will continue to get way better as the season progresses. It’s just a matter of figuring it out.”
The Polson Pirates boys’ tennis team is a continued work in progress, according to Hislop.
The young Pirates are athletically inclined and Hislop will continue to work with his team to try to mix and match the right combination of doubles players to solidify his team’s roster.
“You have to get as good as you possibly can at tennis if you are athletic and hope the tennis game holds up,” Hislop said. “This group has done a lot of things athletically and they can do some really special things if we can get them to come together.”