Pirates' tennis hampered by the elements

The Polson High School boys and girls tennis team have been hampered by Mother Nature and the elements have inhibited them from getting quality repetitions and court experience.

Coach Hislop isn’t deterred and knows his Pirates and Lady Pirates teams will just have to get acclimated to the conditions.

“It’s been really bad and last week I think we had only three nights on the court,” Hislop said. “We’ve had to dry roll (the court) and been practicing inside because the weather has just been horrible. There are just too many kids in too small of a space by the end of the night to get good practice in. We’ve had to change the makeup at practice and we just aren’t getting any tennis in. It’s hard to get better when you are short on time on the court.”

The Lady Pirates tennis team continues to thrive, despite the lack of court and practice time with reduced repetition.

“Right now, the girls are doing great,” Hislop said. “We are still showing signs of being really young and coupled with not a lot of practice time, it really makes it tough. Our young kids are playing very well, but are still a little behind.”

Hislop knows the Pirates and Lady Pirates aren’t alone in facing the elements.

“Our kids are playing well and little behind where we should be,” Hislop said. “It’s not like we are the only team in the state that will be behind.”

Some of the more prominent Lady Pirates’ stars such as Kyler Lundeen, Josie Peterson and Shea McGuinness, have continued to thrive in spite of the elements, according to Hislop.

“We have good leaders,” Hislop said. “We simply need court time to get all of our players where they should be and our younger players caught up.”

One player that has come along in recent matches is Briala Forman, a No. 4 tennis player that has won her last four consecutive matches in a row, including three straight singles matches.

Now, with four and half weeks left in the season, Hislop said his team will have to find a way to overcome their lack of practice time moving forward.

“It’s an interesting situation and we’ve got to deal with what is going on,” Hislop said. “We will figure out a way.”