HIGH SCHOOL-KENTUCKY

Campbell tennis heads toward bright future

James Weber
jweber@communitypress.com

ALEXANDRIA – They have a whole new team this year, but the Campbell County High School boys tennis team hopes for more success than the previous version.

The Camels had a strong performance in the 2013 postseason, with a pair of 2013 graduates advancing to the state tournament.

This year’s edition had a chance to surpass all that as the 10th Region tournament began May 3 in Cynthiana.

“I turned over my roster,” said head coach Jeremiah Sowards. “Most matches, I had a sixth-grader at singles, and five sophomores and a junior. That’s the youngest my roster has been in a long time.”

The middle-schooler, Anderson McDowell, has been the No. 1 singles player for the team all year, and he started the regional as the No. 3 seed. Sophomores Mason Geiman and Jake Walters were the three seed in doubles, and Dontay Hyatt and Hogan Oldiges the fifth seed. The top four finishers in each bracket advance to the state tournament May 14-17 in Lexington, with the team champion participating in the state team tournament as well. Conner Combs is Campbell’s second singles player in the tourney.

Campbell had a 7-8 record in dual matches for the year.

“We played a lot of really tough teams in the Ninth Region,” Sowards said. “I’m really impressed with how good the Ninth Region is. They have some really solid teams top to bottom.”

However the regional turns out, the Camels will have a lot to build on for next season.

“Every one of these kids is brand new to varsity tennis. They may have played a few matches but no one had a full season,” said Sowards, who had to adjust his coaching style this season. “I had to remember everything was a learning experience for them. And to really focus on the fundamentals so they had something to fall back on in matches. It was nice because I got to reteach some basics and get them into the program, understand why we’re doing things.”

Follow James Weber on Twitter, @RecorderWeber