Crawfordsville boys’ tennis coach Craig Brainard has paired his seniors Ziair Morgan and Thatcher Gambrel together at No. 1 doubles.
Their leadership and success will be paramount to the teams’ success this fall.
Equally to their importance will be the youth at the singles’ positions, including a pair of freshmen.
“I’m excited to see our two returning seniors compete at one doubles this season,” Brainard said. “And I’m just as excited to see our young singles players improve and find their game.”
Jude Hutchison and Wyatt Motz will both play singles for the Athenians, while sophomore James Murphy will assume the role of Crawfordsville’s top guy at No. 1 singles.
Brainard understands it will take time for his team to figure things out with a young lineup and returning guys in new spots.
“We’ll be working to get into a rhythm early,” he said. “It may take a couple of matches to do that, but we had a great turnout during our off-season workouts and the older players, though few, are really stepping up to lead the younger players and create a good team atmosphere.”
But overall, he is expecting successs out of this group.
“Our goal is to succeed this season,” he said. “Borrowing from Coach Wooden, our success is not based on winning or losing, but knowing that we have done our best. If we come off the court and don’t feel like we played our best then we have something to work on.”
And he feels like their athleticism and experience as tennis players will carry them on the court.
