CAMDEN — The Preble Shawnee tennis team’s season is under way and head coach Dave Hubbard has high hopes for a young but talented roster.
For the Arrows this season is about chasing an SWBL title. In order to do so, the team will be really focusing on the league matches.
“Our main goal is to win league, but success this season would be improving our league standing and finishing at least in the top two. We have as good a chance as ever to win league so we are extremely focused on those matches,” said Hubbard.
Brooklyn Hubbard will enter her final season as number one on the singles card, as the senior looks to lead a lineup comprised mostly of underclassmen to a league title. The number two singles will be sophomore Ashlyn Hubbard and third singles will be junior Sydney Quillen.
Hubbard said the strong singles group will be key to accomplishing a lot of the early goals the program has set for themselves.
“Our strength is our singles lineup. That is where all our experience lies. I would put our top-three up against just about anybody,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard also believes the overall team speed and quickness will be important. “Our athleticism is a big strength for us as well. This is without question the most athletic group I have seen in my tenure as girls’ tennis coach.”
The team’s doubles lineup will be a question mark early, but Hubbard believes it could be a strength by the end of the season.
“Our lack of experience in our doubles lineup is somewhat of a liability for us,” he said. “We have four extremely athletic young ladies playing doubles this year, but they are all first-year players. They have big-time upside but will need to learn how to compete and win very quickly for us to succeed to the level we want. I expect big things from them as the season progresses.”
The doubles lineup will be Allison Zornes and Alivia Reek, two freshmen, playing on first doubles. The second doubles team will feature sophomore Delaney Bennet and freshman Jane Feck.
The Arrows have already shown their strength by winning their first three matches of the season.
The team played Lebanon on Wednesday, August 12 winning the match by a score of 3-2.
The singles team showed their strength by nearly sweeping the games; all three won, with Brooklyn Hubbard winning 6-0, 6-0, Ashlyn Hubbard winning 6-0,6-0 and Sydney Quillen winning 6-0,6-1.
On Thursday, Aug. 13 the Arrows defeated Hamilton, 4-1.
Both Brooklyn and Ashlyn Hubbard swept their opponents 6-0, 6-0 while Quillen again won 6-1, 6-0.
On Friday, Aug. 14, the team took on Eaton and again won the match 4-1.
Brooklyn Hubbard defeated Tess Flynn 6-1, 6-1 to lead the way. Ashlyn Hubbard defeated Rebecca Wolf 6-0, 6-3. Quillen defeated Maria Kern 7-5, 6-2.
Zornes and Reek picked up their first doubles win of the season by defeating Kyra Houle’ and Honoka Sato, 7-5, 6-3.
Coach Hubbard was pleased with the effort of the week. “This was a great opening week for us. We have some things to work on for sure, but our girls did a lot of things well this week and I am very proud of them. I am certainly encouraged by our play so far,” he said.
