Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
After graduating seven starters from last year’s squad and getting a new coach, rebuilding was the name of the game for the Corunna boys tennis team heading into the season.
Making the rebuilding effort even tougher for the Cavaliers was the fact that they play in the rugged CAAC White, home to some of the finest small-school tennis teams in the state. While the road has been rocky at times, the Cavaliers enjoyed a solid season nonetheless.
“It’s been a building year,” first-year coach Bill Lawson said. “From the kids’ perspective, I really think they’ve been encouraged by their improvement. We’re in a really tough conference with Williamston, Lansing Catholic Central, and Portland. So in the conference, results-wise, not that well.”
While the wins were not as plentiful as they hoped they would be, the Cavaliers enjoyed the season and took satisfaction in improving overall as players.
“Overall, the team’s had really good morale,” Lawson said. “It’s been a joy to work with these kids honestly.”
Leading the lineup for Corunna this season was junior Devon Limbaugh at No. 1 singles.
“Our number one has really improved,” Lawson said, “and he’s got another year. I expect a lot of good things out of him. He’s been outstanding for us.
“Joan Diago, our two singles, is our exchange student from Spain, and he’s done real well,” Lawson said.
Corunna returned just three seniors from last year’s team, and the trio was solid throughout the season.
“Our seniors have done well,” Lawson said. “I only have three seniors, that is one of the reasons it’s a rebuilding year, but all three of those kids have done really well.”
Corunna’s three seniors are Zac Newman at No. 3 singles and Caleb Pratt and Jacob Junglas at No. 1 doubles. “They’ve had it really tough at No. 1. In our conference every one of these schools is tough.”
The Cavaliers have also had to battle small numbers when going against the conference powerhouses, but they managed to make steady progress.
“The guys have just been working hard, knowing that we have a big, uphill battle,” Lawson said. “We’re really shorthanded, we only had 16 kids and we lost one. What they have done is a credit to them and determination.
The biggest highlight is just the team. They have pulled together, understanding that they are underdogs. The way that they have pulled together and rallied behind each other. They could’ve easily gone away, but they took it as each match, as just a little bit to take away from and go back to the practice court and work on, and that is really heartening for a coach to see. Kids that just won’t give up. It’s rural tennis against a lot of city schools.”