|
Monday, 09 April 2007 |
 The 2007 Wapakoneta Redskins varsity tennis team. Team members consist of Joey Cerda, Ben Carter, Andrew Mammone, Jackson Waterman, Alexander Hager, Derek Mankin, Austin Hunt and Stefano De Giuda. (Staff photo/ Bryan Craft)
By TOM HECKMAN
Staff Writer
In his 21st year as a tennis coach for the Wapakoneta Redskins, Darrel Heintz finds this year’s team to be very solid.
Heintz, who coached boys and girls tennis in his career, is optimistic about the team despite the lack of size.
“We’re very small in numbers this year — we’ve only got eight kids on the team, but they are eight solid players,” Heintz said. “I’m very happy with that. I don’t have to teach anybody how to play tennis. These kids all know how to play tennis, and they play at a very good level.”
One factor contributing to this is the loss of two key seniors last year, number one singles player Ryan Kantner and second doubles player Ryan Bailey. Bailey went through a succession of partners last year, rotating in players to try to better the team’s luck.
Last year’s team went 0-14, but Heintz feels this year will be different. His confidence stems from a new recruit for the Redskins, number one singles player Alexander Hager.
“Alexander will be one of the top players in this area of the state,” Heintz said. “He’s an outstanding player. He’s very good. He’s going to be playing and he’ll be a force to reckon with.”
His sister is Hannah Hager, who was 26-1 for Heintz during the 2003 season. With Alexander, he is coaching a family legacy.
“They’re very good tennis players,” Heintz said.
With the unpredictable weather hampering the early matches of the year, practice and matches have been inconsistent.
“Practice has been pretty good,” Heintz said. “We’ve had to dodge the weather a little bit, it puts a crimp in the practice schedule because you get three or four days in a row and then you’re off for two or three days. So that’s a little bit of a problem, fighting the weather.”
There are four returning players with enough experience that Heintz feels should help the team compete in the oncoming season.
Andrew Mammone is one such player, and is returning for his third year on second singles. Austin Hunt, a letter winner, is on third singles. Jackson Waterman played both singles and doubles last year and Derek Mankin is in his second year on first doubles.
As far as competition goes, Heintz said Elida, who won the league last year, is the team to beat.
“Elida is probably in the driver’s seat because they have their number one and number two players back and their first doubles team back,” Heintz said. “They look to be very solid.”
His coaching approach has been largely the same as last year — he still plays with the team. One strategy he has been toying with is the set-up of non-league matches in the opening games.
“Our first four matches are non-league matches,” Heintz said. “We have three non-league this week and we start off with one next week. We begin league play when Celina comes here.”
The team is already out to a 5-0 start, winning their first four non-league matches and then defeating Celina in the Western Buckeye League opener.
The idea behind this approach is to test the waters with some teams that have no bearing on their league standing.
“Hopefully by that time I’ll have my mind set on what we’re going to do,” Heintz said, “but we’re going to try some different combinations and see how different things work in non-league schedule, so I can see what tournaments will be like.
“We definitely need to improve on last year’s record,” he added. “With Alex on singles this year it’s almost guaranteeing a win, so that’s going to help us.”
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 April 2007 )
|
