David Cook
Sports Scene
After not being sure they would even have a team due to a lack of numbers at the beginning of the season, the Charlotte boy’s tennis team rounded up enough players for a team and experienced a positive season.
The Oriole players improved their games as the season progressed and enjoyed the season overall.
“It’s been ok,” Charlotte coach Kelly Boks said. “We have a young team with a lot of beginning players. We’ve come a long way in our own right. The kids have grown a lot in their play, and they’ve been doing pretty well.”
Charlotte’s improvement was evident by their performance at the post-season conference tournament. The Orioles earned a total of six first-round wins at the league tournament.
“We had six wins in the first round at the conference tournament, and that was a big bonus for us,” Boks said. “The regional didn’t go so hot, but we hung in there.”
The Orioles had a number of players turn in solid seasons this fall.
“Our one singles Brady Royce has done pretty good,” Boks said. “Our one doubles team, Mateus Stroueble and Ben Vasquez have been doing pretty good. Our two doubles is a brand-new team, and for being brand new players, they’ve held their own all year. That’s Devin Stroueble and Augustus Suchuck. Our three singles player is one of our longest players. He plays almost three sets in almost everything.”
Overall, this year’s team is young, with the bulk of the squad expected to be back next season with plenty of experience under their belts.
“We’re a very young team,” Boks said. “We have two seniors, one junior, and the rest are sophomores and freshmen. We’re very young. Most of the kids haven’t played before. Inexperienced, but we’re doing all right. We’re holding our own.”
With the young players gaining experience this season, the future looks bright for the Charlotte tennis team beginning next year.
“Actually we look pretty good,” Boks said. “We look pretty good as far as kids coming back. We’ll have almost a full team next year right out of the gate, which is nice because we did not have that this year. Hopefully we’ll do pretty good next year.”