Opportunities, questions abound for WHS tennis team
By Brian Questel
March 29, 2010
522
If Wooster High tennis coach Stan Burris thought about having his team walk around practice opening day and introduce themselves to each other, there was good reason.
Burris welcomes back only three letter winners after graduating four seniors, led by Matthew Cebul, who helped the Generals go 7-7 overall, but 6-1 and finish second in the Ohio Cardinal Conference to six-time OCC champion Lexington. Despite that inexperience, Burris isnt willing to sound any alarms just yet.
We have 23 total kids and 12-15 who played JV – its a big group of returners, said Burris. We have holes to fill. We lost four seniors who played varsity at least two years -- Cebul, Will Carey, Mike Ferguson and Andy Sobchik were all long-time varsity performers for us and because of that, were going to have to find where people fit in.
Were deep as far as people who can play. The question is whether they step up and rise to the occasion in our early matches. Our schedule is pretty tough.
That group is paced by junior Erik Lindberg, who played third singles last year and finished third in the OCC last year, and senior teammates Patrick McCory and Sean Miller, who formed the second doubles varsity team a year ago and were third in the OCC as well.
While the warm weather has certainly given Burris an early look at the caliber of his athletes, it has been too early to get a proper read on the potential lineup or where anyone will play. Burris admitted as much, saying, We can come up with a lot of different combinations where we can be competitive.
We can use a lot of different lineups, he noted. Were going to have to wait and see. The first week of practice we waited three days for the snow to melt on the courts, but the last seven days have been decent with no wind and sunshine. The team really benefitted from that.
I think well be solid at first and second (singles) and first doubles, and well probably rotate kids through third singles and second doubles. A lot of kids can play, so we want a chance to build some experience. Those three lettermen are in the thick of it, but its a toss-up as to who will play where or when. There isnt a clear delineation in the top seven – everyones fighting for a spot.
Conor Morris, a senior, is one of those fighting for a spot, along with classmate Matheus DeNardo. They are joined by juniors Corbin Carnahan, Storm McBane and Lucas Burris; sophomores Sean Hoy-Skubik, Nick Angert and Spencer Meigs; and freshmen Dan Cebul and Brady Kelly.
Wooster opens at home March 30 against Cloverleaf. The Generals are back at the high school after spending a year on the city of Woosters Christmas Run courts as the schools crumbling courts were being replaced.
The courts look really good, said Burris. They weathered the winter really well.
Thats what the Generals need to do -- weather their opening matches and then find their stride as the OCC season gears up.
