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For Clay girls tennis coach Walt Ralph, this season is all about gaining experience.
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Clay Junior Kylee Ault returns
at No. 1 singles after placing third
at last year's CL tournament and
earning first-team all-league honors.
She is 5-1 through six matches this
season. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean) |
With just one senior on the roster, doubles player Heather Curry, the Eagles need several players to develop their games in time for the City League tournament. Clay finished fourth in the league in 2009.
“We want to maintain our fourth-place finish from last year, even with so many new players,” said Ralph, in his 15th season. “That's a reasonable goal. And we want to get them a ton of match experience as young players so we can look for a terrific season next year. That's why we tried to schedule as many matches as we can with some tough schools, to get them that kind of experience.”
The Eagles are off to a 5-2 start following Wednesday's win against visiting Maumee. Clay has also beaten Toledo Christian, Rossford, Sandusky and Springfield, and lost to Fremont Ross and Anthony Wayne.
Junior Kylee Ault returns at No. 1 singles after placing third at last year's CL tournament and earning first-team all-league honors. She is 5-1 through six matches this season.
“Kylie has every ingredient you would want in a tennis player,” Ralph said. “She has the ability to keep herself on an even keel. She doesn't get flustered easily. I'd be hard-pressed to think of a time when she was out of sorts or out of control on the court.”
Ralph added that Ault has shown a willingness to be more aggressive on offense this year.
“She has the ability to keep in her mind what she's trying to accomplish,” the coach said. “She has a good game plan coming into a tennis match and the ability to execute it well. She had some success last year but it was mostly on defense, moving and putting the ball back in play. She still has those skills, but she is starting to incorporate some offensive plays as well.”
Clay's No. 2 singles player, junior Abbey Herrera, played second doubles last fall. She is 6-1 this season.
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Clay's No. 2 singles player,
junior Abbey Herrera, played
second doubles last fall. She
is 6-1 this season. (Press
photo by Ken Grosjean) |
“She's got a tenacious spirit about her,” Ralph said. “Definitely her strength is her footwork and an abject will to win. In our first week of matches, she played two three-hour matches on back-to-back days and won one of them.”
Sophomore Lisa Durrant is 2-4 at No. 3 singles this season. She played on the Eagles' junior varsity team last year.
“She has real nice ground strokes,” Ralph said. “The first thing we worked with her on is trusting those strokes. She is still working on her footwork and strategy and putting points together.”
Curry and sophomore Kayla Durczynski, who played on the JV squad last season, are 3-2 at No. 1 doubles. Ralph said Curry and Durczynski will improve as the season progresses.
“Heather played first doubles last year and she has a sense of what it's all about,” Ralph said. “With a young team like we have, that's important. Heather hits the ball well, with some pace. Kayla is one of our better net players, so that's a good arrangement for them. They are fun to watch. Heather is certainly a part of helping Kayla with her growth.”
At No. 2 doubles, junior Ann Klewer and sophomore Cassi Hartkopf have won five of seven matches, while sophomore Stacey Adkins and junior Emma Hillyer have a 1-1 mark.
“There is a lot of parity involved there when those teams play each other,” Ralph said. “Ann has some scheduling conflicts that will keep her out of some matches. She might not be available for the City tournament, so we want to make sure another doubles team will be ready if they have to be.”
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