The Grundy Center girls tennis team is preparing to begin its season with a new head coach. Maddy Mahan has taken over the program, having previously served as an assistant coach at Spencer.
Mahan says the team has a fair number of players with varsity experience, but they’ll also lean on some newcomers to the sport.
“I do have a lot of returners, which is awesome because they’re kind of showing me the ropes of how they have done things in the past while also I’m able to bring in stuff from my old school,” Mahan says. “I do have a lot of young girls that are in their first year ever being out. And it’s definitely going to be a building year with some great senior leadership. Due to the weather and a lot of other stuff that’s been going on, I can’t say that I have decided or we figured out where those top spots are going to go, only because I have so many great girls and it could go a lot of different ways, but definitely those returners, we’re gonna be building off of them.”
Seniors Bria Steinmeyer and Lilly Lewis played mostly #3 and #4 singles last year, and are some early favorites to take the top two varsity singles spots.
The team went 0-10 in duals last year, and will look to snap a long losing streak. Mahan says the student-athletes will have a big voice in helping lead the team to new heights.
“I think it all comes with experience and knowing that they’ve been down that road before and we are getting there. We’re coming up with different drills, different strategies. I’m also leaning on them because I wasn’t around here last year. So asking them,what went well, what didn’t, and then kind of playing into what they wanna work on rather than just solely based on what I’m seeing. I think I rely heavily on them more than they probably realize.”
The Spartans will begin the season on Friday, April 5 by hosting Nevada.
Interview with Mahan:
