Tennis team will finish successful season with Regionals on Friday
Another season of men’s tennis is off to a great start. Coached by German Teacher Rich Kynast, a 23-year veteran coach at MHS, the season started Aug. 12th with 18 guys on the team.
During the summer, practices were three hours long, twice per week. Once school was back in session, practices were shortened to about two hours every day. The matches are two to three times per week with an occasional Saturday tournament. A tournament is organized into matches, which are then put into rounds. In each round, players (and teams) are paired up to play each other.
With only a few matches left, the team looks forward to going to their Regional meet on Oct. 9th after the KLAA tournament. This year’s season started out with “a couple good wins”, where the wins were close and the games were fair, Kynast said.
One 0f the best moments for this year’s team was beating rival Lakeland, 7-2.
“Lakeland’s our biggest rival because they are our sister school. We’ve grown up with them,” said Junior, Greg Russell, adding, “It’s an even match.”
Kynast said he enjoys playing schools that our of equal size like Lakeland because the talent level is usually similar and the teams are competitive.
“When you see a team that looks as good as yours, it’s not only a good fight but it’s fair,” Kynast said. “One team isn’t crushing the other- and you get to watch the talent play out, which is really cool to see.”
Russell, who joined the team his freshman year, has easily become one of the best players on the team. He treats tennis like it’s more than just a sport.
“There’s just something about tennis. I’m not sure if it’s the team or the game, but the best part of it would have to be spending time with people who have the same passion as me. It’s become more than just a sport over the past two years. I love the sport, whether I’m playing the game or watching it on TV. I can relate to it, to the pros,” Russell explained.
Kynast said he has enjoyed watching the development of the players and seeing them become closer to one another.
“One of the biggest parts of it is that the kids know each other. As coaches we get to see how the guys use their skills and how they react to playing some of their friends.” Kynast explained.
