Plymouth tennis pushing forward
Story courtesy of The Pilot News.
PLYMOUTH — Plymouth’s girls tennis team took a hit from graduation a year ago.
“We lost five of our top eight last year and really three of our top four,” said Plymouth head coach Brad Haeck. “We lost an all-state doubles team that played there for three years. That’s a lot. We haven’t had that many years when we’ve lost that much.”
Still, Haeck is looking forward to a year when he has a solid base of returning players to build on.
“We have two seniors who will be in their fourth year in the varsity lineup,” said Haeck. “Annie Plothow and Cassidy Riddle. They were our two-doubles team for a couple of years and had a lot of success. Last year Cassidy was a two doubles and Annie at two singles and both had very successful years last year where they were in our lineup.”
“We’re not exactly sure yet what will happen so far as lineup but those two will definitely be at the top of our lineup so far as most experienced players and best players, definitely leading us on and off the court.”
“After them, we have a lot of girls that are very even in ability,” said Haeck. “Tynley Gantz played three singles last year as a sophomore and she is back as a junior probably in a singles spot. She is competitive at the top of our lineup singles-wise.”
“We have a lot of balance and really good competition will take place for lineup positions going forward.”
Sorting out who is best suited for singles and doubles play becomes the puzzle Haeck and his coaching staff will start trying to solve.
“It’s hard to forecast what will happen so far as who will beat who and who will continue to improve more than other players,” He said. “We are only a couple of rounds of challenge matches in right now. We are working to make each other better and competition breeds that and forces everybody to elevate their game.”
“Historically we’ve had our doubles kids and they move up and our singles kids and they move up,” said Haeck. “Last year was sort of an anomaly to what we’ve had in the past where Annie Plothow had improved so much she moved from two doubles as a sophomore to two singles last year and helped us out a bunch and made our lineup much stronger and tougher overall.”
Skill sets also enter into the equation.
“Mobility sometimes plays a part in that. Sometimes it’s a mentality as well,” said Haeck. “We have some girls who want to be more aggressive and get to the net and get points faster. Maybe they just volley better. Some girls are more consistent and mentally tougher and are willing to stay out there and keep the ball in play. Sometimes they just receive better on one side of the court.”
“We want to see them in different scenarios in practice to see what might work. We usually play a lot of combinations and some challenge scenarios.”
“I’m excited about our group,” said Haeck. “We have experience but not a lot of varsity experience. It will be just a level above what most of them have seen. I think we have a lot of really good kids. We’ve seen a lot of improvement and we are just a few days in.”
“I think we are going to improve maybe more than any team I’ve ever had because they are pushing each other to get better, they are coachable and working hard every day.”
2024 Schedule
April 4 — at John Glenn High School 5:15 p.m.
April 6 — West Lafayette High School 10:30 a.m.
April 8 — Valparaiso 5:30 p.m.
April 11 — Chesterton High School 5:45 p.m.
April 12 — at Culver Academies 5:15 p.m.
April 13 — Plymouth Varsity Invite 9:30 a.m.
April 16 — at Warsaw High School 5:30 p.m.
April 19 — Northwood High School 5:30 p.m.
April 20 — Plymouth Invite-JV 9:30 a.m.
April 23 — at Concord High School 5:30 p.m.
April 25 — at Mishawaka High School 5:30 p.m.
April 29 — Bremen High School 4:30 p.m.
April 30 — Goshen High School 5:30 p.m.
May 2 — at Northridge High School 5:30 p.m.
May 4 — at Warsaw JV Invite 9 a.m.
May 4 — at Slicer Invitational 10 a.m. (Kesling Park-LeRoy Cts.)
May 6 — Wawasee High School 5:30 p.m.
May 8 — NLC-Tournament 4 p.m. at Mishawaka High School
May 9 — NLC-Tournament 4:30 p.m. at Concord High School
May 10 — NLC-Tournament 4 p.m. at Mishawaka High School
May 15 — SECTIONAL at Culver Academies
May 16 — SECTIONAL at Culver Academies
May 17 — SECTIONAL at Culver Academies
