Hillsboro girls tennis team wants to be competitive in 2019
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Hillsboro Lady Indians are set to embark on their 2019 tennis season, and they are doing so with the biggest roster the program has had in quite some time.
HHS head coach LaRue Turner said this week that the Lady Indians tennis program has 17 players on the roster, which is up significantly from last season, and of the players listed on the roster, five of those players are returning from last season. Hillsboro plans to carry 10 to 12 players on the varsity team in 2019.
Back from last season are Alexia Nicholas, Caroline Crouch, Haley Norman, Miriam Studebaker and Jenna Wilson.
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Also on the roster for Hillsboro this season are: Isabella Naylor, Dakota Long, Allie Crago, Sara Newsome, Abigail Koogler, Stephanie Patton, Aubrey Schurman, Tara Emrick, Jenna Harsha, Assia Patrick, Loraleigh Mayhan and Abby Hall.
“We have Alexia and Miriam who will probably be playing one and two. Those are our leading players right now, and they are both juniors this year,” Turner said. “They will be taking on the heavy load for the team by playing either one or two, as we are still in competition to find out which one will play one or two.
“Those two will take the brunt, and we’ll see how they can handle the pressure because then we get everyone’s best, and we’ll just have to see if they can take that pressure and sustain that pressure for 22 matches.”
Turner spoke about how the summer went for the program, along with how they are getting ready for the season.
“Summer has been pretty good. We started in July, in just an open court kind of thing. This summer we’ve mainly been working on conditioning, on strokes, and those are the main things we’ve been working on,” he said. “It just takes repetition, and you have to just execute shots and not even think about it, and that is what we are right now, that concept.”
Turner said that having more players this season is “great” for the program.
“It is great (having more players), and it means our program is growing,” He said. “We have freshmen and sophomores who are just starting out. This enhances our overall growth of girls tennis here at Hillsboro.
“We have a lot of enthusiasm, and what we need to do is to continue to work, and I’ve never heard complaints out of the girls. They all have a great attitude, and all of them work as hard as they can, and they never let up. With hard work and repetition, we should be competitive this season.”
Being his 11th season as the head coach for Hillsboro, Turner said it has been a good experience.
“It has been a good experience, and I enjoy being with the students and watching them progress and watching them just get better in tennis,” Turner said. “I like the team concept and watching them pull for each other. Even though some of them might not be playing, it is all about the team spirit and playing as an individual.
“We’ve been very lucky here to have boys and girls teams like that. Those are nice things to have when you don’t have the bickering and everybody seems to pull for each other.”
There is also the competitiveness for the program, which Turner is a fan of.
“We had a summer program this year, but we didn’t have a lot of girls out for that, but we are working on improving that,” he said. “With the success of the boys team last year, and we still have a lot of girls coming out from soccer, that helps. These girls love to be competitive, and they came to tennis to feel out the need for that competitiveness.”
As the season begins this Friday, Turner also spoke about having a new assistant coach and just getting the season going.
“I have a new assistant this year in Lee Koogler who has really brought in new drills, new exercises and is pushing the girls to better heights. I’m looking forward to even better things out of this year,” Turner said. “The season is going to be challenging as usual. We have the first five matches are away from home, but it is good. I’d rather have something challenging like that to see if we can come up to those standards.
“That’s why Lee has been working so hard with them on conditioning. When you play teams day after day, sometimes four times a week, it takes a lot out of you. Also, don’t forget, they are still students and still have to go to school. Then to come out and play after that and play into the evening, it is hard on them.”
Hillsboro opens the season Friday, Aug. 9 at Unioto in non-conference play.
HHS head coach LaRue Turner said this week that the Lady Indians tennis program has 17 players on the roster, which is up significantly from last season, and of the players listed on the roster, five of those players are returning from last season. Hillsboro plans to carry 10 to 12 players on the varsity team in 2019.
Back from last season are Alexia Nicholas, Caroline Crouch, Haley Norman, Miriam Studebaker and Jenna Wilson.
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Also on the roster for Hillsboro this season are: Isabella Naylor, Dakota Long, Allie Crago, Sara Newsome, Abigail Koogler, Stephanie Patton, Aubrey Schurman, Tara Emrick, Jenna Harsha, Assia Patrick, Loraleigh Mayhan and Abby Hall.
“We have Alexia and Miriam who will probably be playing one and two. Those are our leading players right now, and they are both juniors this year,” Turner said. “They will be taking on the heavy load for the team by playing either one or two, as we are still in competition to find out which one will play one or two.
“Those two will take the brunt, and we’ll see how they can handle the pressure because then we get everyone’s best, and we’ll just have to see if they can take that pressure and sustain that pressure for 22 matches.”
Turner spoke about how the summer went for the program, along with how they are getting ready for the season.
“Summer has been pretty good. We started in July, in just an open court kind of thing. This summer we’ve mainly been working on conditioning, on strokes, and those are the main things we’ve been working on,” he said. “It just takes repetition, and you have to just execute shots and not even think about it, and that is what we are right now, that concept.”
Turner said that having more players this season is “great” for the program.
“It is great (having more players), and it means our program is growing,” He said. “We have freshmen and sophomores who are just starting out. This enhances our overall growth of girls tennis here at Hillsboro.
“We have a lot of enthusiasm, and what we need to do is to continue to work, and I’ve never heard complaints out of the girls. They all have a great attitude, and all of them work as hard as they can, and they never let up. With hard work and repetition, we should be competitive this season.”
Being his 11th season as the head coach for Hillsboro, Turner said it has been a good experience.
“It has been a good experience, and I enjoy being with the students and watching them progress and watching them just get better in tennis,” Turner said. “I like the team concept and watching them pull for each other. Even though some of them might not be playing, it is all about the team spirit and playing as an individual.
“We’ve been very lucky here to have boys and girls teams like that. Those are nice things to have when you don’t have the bickering and everybody seems to pull for each other.”
There is also the competitiveness for the program, which Turner is a fan of.
“We had a summer program this year, but we didn’t have a lot of girls out for that, but we are working on improving that,” he said. “With the success of the boys team last year, and we still have a lot of girls coming out from soccer, that helps. These girls love to be competitive, and they came to tennis to feel out the need for that competitiveness.”
As the season begins this Friday, Turner also spoke about having a new assistant coach and just getting the season going.
“I have a new assistant this year in Lee Koogler who has really brought in new drills, new exercises and is pushing the girls to better heights. I’m looking forward to even better things out of this year,” Turner said. “The season is going to be challenging as usual. We have the first five matches are away from home, but it is good. I’d rather have something challenging like that to see if we can come up to those standards.
“That’s why Lee has been working so hard with them on conditioning. When you play teams day after day, sometimes four times a week, it takes a lot out of you. Also, don’t forget, they are still students and still have to go to school. Then to come out and play after that and play into the evening, it is hard on them.”
Hillsboro opens the season Friday, Aug. 9 at Unioto in non-conference play.