The BHS tennis team’s 4-6 record in Metro League dual matches last year was the worst since the Spartans joined the league, according to Mike Anderson.
This year’s record could be among the best.
“Top to bottom, this is probably the best collection of tennis players since I’ve been coaching,” said Anderson, who is entering his 14th season at the Spartan helm. “It’s a good combination of players and the year they are. We won’t lose a bunch of kids.”
Anderson points out that the team did some good things last year, as the boys won the annual Pepsi Invitational in Yakima and the girls finished second. The Spartans also went 2-0-1 in non-league matches.
The girls are particularly strong this year, Anderson feels. For starters, there’s sophomore Grace Porter, who was the team’s No. 1 singles player last year. Porter compiled a 25-5 record en route to an appearance at the state championships, where she won two matches.
And there’s a strong possibility that Porter will be supplanted in the top spot this year by sophomore Sasha Carter, who won the 1A title while commuting from the island to the Annie Wright school in Tacoma but decided to stay closer to home this year.
“Both she and Grace have high USTA rankings,” Anderson said. “They’re among the elite players in the state.”
The two will have plenty of support. Junior Colleen Gruber, No. 2 singles last year, will probably fill the three slot this year. Senior letter winners Sarah Powers and Abigail Hawley are likely to play doubles. Other girls likely to see lots of varsity action include senior Kendall Culton, juniors Ursula Hardy and Carolyn McCotter, and freshmen Kelly Zwicker and Kate Jamison.
Junior Dylan Skeffington played No. 1 singles for the boys last year, finishing with a 5-10 mark. “Playing No. 1 in our league is really tough,” Anderson pointed out. Though sophomores Scott Alderson and Sam Claney filled the other two singles slots, Anderson hasn’t decided on positioning this year.
“I’ve got a ton of boys this year, and at this point I don’t know who’s number one,” he said.
Four seniors are in the mix: letter winners David Gruber, Chris Compeggie and Tim Buxton, and Ben Ferguson, who played JV last year. In addition, juniors Nate Parker and Ryan Hunt both lettered last year. And fellow junior Ian Saksa, who earned a letter as a freshman, returns to action after being injured last year.
Looking toward the upcoming season, Anderson feels that perennial power Seattle Prep is likely to be the best team in the league.
“We hope to give them a good run for their money,” he said. “We have more depth on the boys side and the girls are especially strong at the top.
“Our goal is to win the rest of our matches. It would be especially good to beat Lakeside. We haven’t beaten them since 2003 or 2004. We’re due.
The team opens the season by hosting Eastside Catholic on Wednesday, March 18. The Spartans play Seattle Prep twice, at Lower Woodland on March 20 and here on April 20. They travel to Lakeside on April 13 and face the Lions at home on April 29, the final dual meet before Metro team playoffs on May 1.
