FREMONT – As the Fremont Ross boys tennis team began preparing for the season, Lisa Wolfe wasn’t sure how high to hold expectations.
After all, the Little Giants were only returning three varsity players from a season ago.
But now, with the season getting underway Tuesday with a match at home against Norwalk, Wolfe’s outlook has shifted dramatically.
“I’m very excited. Whereas if you asked me a month ago after we had our first introduction meeting, I probably would have said ‘We’ll do the best we can,’” Wolfe said. “But now I’m seeing very good things and it’s all from them and their work ethic.”
Adding to Wolfe’s optimism was her team’s performance in its preseason scrimmage against Oak Harbor last week. In their first action against someone other than themselves, playing 20 shortened matches up to six, the Little Giants won the day 18-2.
“They all know what they’re doing out there and, secondly, they want to win,” Wolfe said. “It was really nice.”
Wolfe sees a great deal of potential in her projected singles lineup of seniors Lucas Cronin, Ethan Moyer and Andrew Miller. Cronin and Moyer played together at doubles last year, winning the TRAC championship at No. 2 doubles. While they’ll likely reunite in doubles for the postseason, they’ll be making the shift to singles for the regular season.
“Last year, Lucas and Ethan said ‘We came to play doubles and don’t want anything to do with singles,’ and I try to do what they kids want and try to still be successful,” Wolfe said “But this year, they’re all about singles. That’s what they’re liking and they’re very, very good at it.”
Miller, meanwhile, came out of nowhere last year, with zero prior tennis experience, to compile an 18-12 record thanks to his innate athleticism and adaptability to coaching. With a year of experience to his credit, Wolfe is looking forward to seeing how Miller’s game continues to grow.
“Drew played a little bit of third singles for us last year and he’ll fit right back in,” Wolfe said. “He showed so much promise last year.
“Those three played the entire offseason,” Wolfe said of her singles trio. “They took some lessons and went to clinics and played all through the winter. It will be a very good singles group.”
The doubles flights, which began the preseason as a fuzzy mystery, has come into sharp focus thanks three newcomers and a late-returning veteran.
Though seniors Evan Oglesbee and Frankie Scott are new to varsity tennis, they have ample recreational tennis experience. While they’ve had to smooth out some rough edges that come with the lack of formal training, Wolfe is excited by what the duo brings to the court.
“They play a lot of tennis,” Wolfe said. “They played a lot in the offseason and with friends. What it took for them to be competitive in high school was just a little adjustment. ‘No, we don’t do that.’ ‘We don’t holler,’ ‘It’s a quiet sport.’ Just a few tweaks but they’re definitely varsity.”
Finding a No. 2 doubles was a little trickier. Freshman Kurt Harrison brings a strong tennis background and a big, athletic frame, but finding a playing partner was Wolfe’s biggest challenge. Then junior Isaac Minor, who’d previously told Wolfe he hadn’t planned to return to the team, had a change of heart.
His return coincided with the team’s scrimmage against Oak Harbor. Wolfe paired Minor and Harrison together and, though the two hadn’t played together before, an instant chemistry developed.
“He and Kurt played very well together on a court, a lot of communication between the two of them. That was a good combination right there,” Wolfe said. “With the scrimmage, I saw a lot of doubles play together, some are a definite ‘No’ and some are definitely what we’re going to do.”
While many spring sport coaches enter competition wishing they had more time to prepare, the potential she’s seen in the preseason has Wolfe anxious for the season to get underway.
“I feel like we are (ready),” Wolfe said. “We’ve put in a lot of time out here. They work hard for a solid two hours. I feel they are ready to compete against some teams and give them a run.”