Mission fired up for tennis
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
ST. IGNATIUS — The Mission Bulldogs tennis team has four returning players from the 2012 team in junior Karl Daniels and seniors Katz Yelsa, Troy Bontrager and Chris Camel. The rest of the team is comprised of 10 new players for a total of 14 boys this year. “We are looking for Karl, Katz, Troy and Chris to have a good year,” head coach Kimimi Ashley said. “They are all looking in good shape right now at the beginning of the season, and we shall see how the focus on being competitive throughout the whole season comes together for all of them.”
Daniels, who was sixth in doubles his freshman year and sixth in singles his sophomore year, “definitely has the capability of getting within the top three at state by increasing his endurance time on the court.” Yelsa played doubles last year and lost in two set tiebreakers for the match that would have placed him at state.
A good addition to the tennis team is freshman newcomer Robbie Erickson, Ashley noted.
“Robbie works hard during practice, has sound fundamentals in his tennis basics and is a good encourager of the other boys on the team,” Ashley said. “(I’m) pleased with what we have seen so far in him. We have seen Robbie out on the court during his own time working on his game, so he is showing the drive to want to do his best his first year of high school tennis.”
The season looks promising for Mission tennis, Ashley added.
“It is exciting to have basically a brand-new team in that you are starting at ground zero with a group of guys that would hopefully enjoy tennis enough to stay with it during their high school years and be able to make some noise down the road,” she said. “They are all so competitive right now, which is a great thing. If they can be patient with themselves in growing with the learning curve of just starting out and getting some playing time under their belts, we have a good thing going.”
