Young roster improving, hovering at the .500 mark
With an overall record that sits at the .500 mark, the San
Benito High boys’ tennis team isn’t expecting to win league or make
the playoffs this season, but that doesn’t mean that the team
hasn’t shown progression.
Young roster improving, hovering at the .500 mark
With an overall record that sits at the .500 mark, the San Benito High boys’ tennis team isn’t expecting to win league or make the playoffs this season, but that doesn’t mean that the team hasn’t shown progression.
“They’ve improved a lot since the start of the year,” head coach Chris Yoder said. “We only have one senior on this team and not a lot of experience but they are starting to come together and are playing better.”
This year the Balers are led by junior Derek Panger, the team’s No. 1 singles player.
“He’s the most skilled player on our team,” Yoder said. “He’s been working on developing his full court game.”
A year ago Panger was a doubles player as was junior Mark Tobias, the team’s No. 2 singles player, who plays left-handed.
“He’s a relatively inexperienced singles player,” Yoder said. “He’s developing. This year, he’s won a few matches and lost a few too but he’s improving.”
Although the Balers’ No. 3 player is only a sophomore, Austin Pan has an impressive baseline game, according to coach.
“He’s a steady player for us,” Yoder said. “His forehand is his best shot.”
Another developing singles player on the Balers’ young roster is sophomore Connor Bray, the team’s No. 4 player.
“His serve is really good and his ground strokes are good,” Yoder said. “He just needs to improve his overall conditioning on the court.”
While those four aforementioned players try to take control of the action in the singles events, another group of improving players makes up the Balers doubles teams.
The Balers top doubles team consists of a pair of junior players that have had a lot of success on the court this season. One of them is D.J. Nielson and the other John Rudolfs.
“They are pretty good together,” Yoder said. “They have won most of their matches this season. They are getting better and I’ve been pleased with their efforts on the court this season.”
Filling up the No. 2 doubles spot on the roster is junior Joe Frusetta and freshman Tony Culler.
According to Yoder, the two have complementing styles of play and work well together on the court. Yoder has also been impressed with their mindset during matches.
“Neither one of them gets too excited,” he said. “They are very level-headed players, and are both smart on the court.”
The lone senior player on this year’s Baler roster is Mike Labueguen, who makes up the No. 3 doubles team along with freshman Jade Kimora.
While Labueguen isn’t very experienced in the sport, Kimora, who is the son of the team’s assistant coach, has played in numerous junior tournaments that were sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association.
“Jade is a very streaky player,” Yoder said. “I expect his game to improve a lot by next year. He’s very quick with his feet and has the ability to cover a lot of the court.”
As of The Pinnacle’s press time, the Balers were 4-4 overall too far back of Salinas and Palma – the two schools vying for the league title – to catch either one of them.
“We only have a handful of matches left,” Yoder said. “I just hope they can go out there and put up a strong effort the last few matches. We like to use the acronym ACE for Attitude, Concentration and Effort. If we can have ACE in our matches, we should be able to win a few more.”
