WCMP
Aug 9, 20223 min
Here's a look at a preview of the upcoming Pine City Girls Tennis season, from Head Coach Kristin Unverzagt.
What are you most excited for this year?
I am most excited to work with the girls to see them build on the success of last year’s season and continue to improve their game. It is so fun to be with them on the court. They have great energy and are an amazing group of young women! They set high goals and bring a hard working energy to practice and matches. This year’s schedule will allow many opportunities for the players to improve and see many different teams from around the state. The girls had a strong finish last season and have high goals to continue to carry on the dragon tennis tradition.
How is the roster shaping up? Do you have a lot of new players? Are you returning a lot of players? Younger? Older? Etc.
We have ten returning varsity letter winners that bring amazing leadership and experience to our roster: Claire Emmons, Sophie Lahti, Ella Sell, Addison Sell, Malia Mikyska, Lena Roubinek, Lily Struss, Allison Unverzagt, Brenna Youngbauer, and Brooke Boland . This will be a huge asset for our team to build on the strong finish that they had last season. The team will be led by captains Addison Sell, Ella Sell, and Allison Unverzagt. We also have upcoming players that have put in a lot of time this summer and will add depth to our program. It is so exciting to see the girls work together and use their experience to make our team competitive.
Any upcoming milestones for your team?
We travel to St. James to kick off our season on August 19! We are excited to see some great competition from the south as we face St. James, Marshall, and St. Peter in our first matches of the year. It is also fun to host our annual Power Tournament on Monday, August 222nd where we host some great teams: Litchfield, Mounds Park Academy, Bemidji, Lakeville South, and Osseo. The first six matches give our team an opportunity to play a lot and see teams that we do not see during our regular season. We will also host a quad on Friday, August 26th at Pine City High School. We look forward to hosting Prineton, White Bear Lake, and Minnehaha Academy. We will begin conference play by hosting Mora on September 6. The team has high goals to be competitive in the conference and section as they work hard in the pre-season to play as many matches as possible.
What are your goals?
Our goal is to continue to improve each time we are on the court. We want the players to push themselves and each other. With a team goal to improve something each time we are on the court, they will be a competitive team and have a lot of fun this season. The girls do a great job of pushing each other and have a drive to compete hard! Their determination and work ethic contributes to their success on the court and classroom.
Favorite upcoming games, matches, or meets?
The team is excited to have our tournament and quad match days. The Power Tournament is always fun to host great teams, but we also look forward to traveling to St. James and Hibbing for our away tournaments. The team is always excited about opportunities to play and spend time with each other on bus rides and overnight trips, so it will be great having a full schedule again this year.
Anything else you want people to know about your team?
This team is experienced and brings high goals and energy to the season. Their team chemistry, smiles, and work ethic will be the key to our success this season. The players are great role models and have high expectations both on the court and in the classroom!
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