Much to head coach Andrea Meyer’s surprise, the Mingus Union High School girls tennis team is going above and beyond in order to have a successful 2017 season.
According to Meyer, the team has been doing drills and conditioning on its own before practice, and their attitude is always positive. More importantly, the team’s skill level is already at the same level as it was at the midpoint of the 2016 season.
“They’re bigger, stronger and their attitude has always been a coach’s dream,” Meyer said. “It’s really wonderful at the beginning of the season that they take ownership of it.”
The Marauders graduated three seniors from last year, but Meyer is confident in the team’s core. The team’s top six, better known as the ladder, has not been decided upon, but no matter what the team is working to be strong top to bottom.
On top of that, Meyer has been working with the girls on a style of play that most high school girls tennis teams do not have. A colleague told her that the average rally in high school tennis lasts 3.2 hits.
The first and second hits are the serve and service return, so Meyer is harping on them with her Mingus team.
“In high school girls tennis at this level, the serve is not as offensive as it should be,” Meyer said. “We want to surprise other teams with how well we serve.”
Additionally, she wants the Marauders to be good at volleying as well.
The team is very supportive of one another as well, a curious thing in an individual sport in which the players compete amongst one another for their ranking within the team.
At the season’s end, the top individual and doubles pairing will go to the 2017 Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II State Championships.
“They’re for each other in every sense of the word,” Meyer said. “It’s really a special thing in tennis because they play between each other for their spot.”
Further than just being good tennis players, Meyer develops the girls to be assertive individuals, adding that tennis is about “social negotiation.” They must learn how to be gracious in winning and assertive enough to protest a decision they might not agree with without offending their opponent.
In order gain experience, the girls will take turns captaining the team every week.
Meyer recognizes the helping hands of her three volunteer assistants: Toni Whiteley, Robb Williams and Charley Pinkney as big parts of the team’s success, too.
One thing Mingus is struggling with is numbers; it currently does not have enough players to fill out its junior varsity roster.
Mingus first takes the court at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at Moon Valley High School. It makes its home debut at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, against Sunrise Mountain High School.
