Slow, improvement is plan for ML girls' tennis

The Medical Lake girls’ tennis team is trying to take flight, but so far the runway has been almost too slippery.

“I think I counted and we’ve had 11 days where we were on the tennis court, and I think four of those were with shovels, and two of those were matches,” co-head coach Dawn Eliassen said. A month into the season, the team has had just five real practices, and not even that many matches.

Coming off a 0-16 season, there is nowhere to go but up, and everyone seems to be good with the plan of slow improvement.

“We had seven varsity players who were brand new,” Eliassen said of 2016. “The win loss record did not surprise me.”

The focus in 2016 was getting players prepared for this year, Eliassen said. And now the goals are much more simple. Making small improvement in the bottom line.

“Even if it’s just one team win,” Eliassen said. “I like that goal and the girls like that goal and I think it’s attainable,” she added. Hopefully, in the next couple of years comes the payoff.

Turnout hit 16 for both girls and boys teams, “So we’re down a bit,” Eliassen said. There are six new players on the girls’ side. “I know we have more returning players on the girls’ team than we did last year.”

Eliassen said it’s been a challenge so far getting a feel for the makeup of the team, below the top couple of spots.

“I have seen very little of my girls’ match play,” Eliassen said. During one match she was with the junior varsity to assist them in learning how to keep score. At another, she had kids working on drying courts after a cloudburst.

This year begins with Jasmine Uribes at No. 1 singles and Emily Zunker, whose role on the team is uncertain. “She played doubles last year, but that might change,” Eliassen said.

“The Cazier twins (Lyndsey and Sydney) are back, in doubles together, that’s pretty much a sure thing,” she added. “They play their best tennis when they’re partners.” The sophomores went from never having touched a racquet to being one of the Cards’ top doubles’ teams.

The unusual thing is that the sophomores never played the game until last year, Eliassen said, and they advanced to districts.

Lauren Saue-Fletcher will be in a doubles team somewhere, her coach is just not sure where.

A foreign exchange student presents an unknown option for Eliassen. Elsa Henningsson played badminton at a high level in Sweden. “It’s been interesting working with her and comparing badminton to tennis, but she’s coming along,” Eliassen said. The one match Henningsson played she won.

From the turnout standpoint, Eliassen said that seems to be a moving target. Since there is not a middle school program, prospects arrive with varying skills, some with none at all.

But that’s what Eliassen is there to do, teach the game.

The selling point for the sport is it tends to be a good fit for some. “A lot of kids turn out for tennis because it is a little more relaxed,” Eliassen said. And in addition, a solid and skilled individual player can compete at state without the help of teammates.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.