Pushing through the cold, dark winter months, the Viking boys tennis team begins its official spring season at last. Having trained hard in the weight room and putting in countless hours of playing on indoor courts, the squad is in shape and ready to start competing. Despite a loss in numbers from last year, the boys still have high hopes for this season with the talented performance of fresh underclassmen.

Led by solo seniors and captains, Ezer Smith and Abram Schottenstein, as well as veteran coach Jeff Warstler, the team starts official practices on Monday, March 11th, and plans to start off the week with conditioning tests and move onto the courts beginning Wednesday and the second half of Spring Break. According to Schottenstein regarding the practice sessions over break, “It’s basically just us, so we’ll get to know each other pretty well during that time.” For bonding purposes, the team also occasionally watches March Madness games at Coach Warstler’s house.

Though Academy has fallen short the past couple of years after making it far in the state tournament, this year the team hopes to reclaim the state title it captured three years ago. Schottenstein notes, “We’ve come close the last few years and we won three years ago, but it’s been tough these past years so hopefully we can win again this season.”

The Vikes head off against Lexington for their first competition of the season on Monday, April 1st. The match begins at 4:30 on Academy’s own courts.

Written by Margaret Sutton’14