The boys tennis team is back this fall after a fifth-place state finish and is looking to continue to command the KingCo 3A league once again.
“I’m still not sure about who is our league with the 3A, 4A crossover and everything, so I just said, go out and win everything,” Hedlund said of last year’s team.
With the same goal in mind this year, 10 returning players — along with eight new members — will be taking on a new format in the league.
“You cannot cross over, which means if you’re playing singles, you’re playing singles, and if you’re playing doubles, you’re playing doubles. You don’t get to play singles and doubles anymore,” Hedlund said. “Now that’s going to be OK for our team because we’re a strong team.”
Under the new system, Hedlund said she is still working out the doubles pairs to give the Islanders their best chance.
“I thought I had some good thoughts and it’s proving not to work, so we’re going to have to be [fussing] around with it,” said Hedlund. Despite that, she said, following the team’s play in the Ellensburg tournament, she would have a much better idea of how things were going to shape out.
The team’s goal is to win the league, and getting strong doubles pairings will be a key asset toward achieving that goal.
Hedlund said matches to watch this season will be Bellevue and Newport, even though they are only practice matches.
The tennis team’s first home match is tomorrow versus Mount Si on the Mercer Island tennis courts, beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Schedule
9/10 vs. Mount Si
9/15 at Woodinville
9/17 vs. Juanita
9/22 at Lake Washington
9/24 at Roosevelt
9/29 vs. Bellevue
10/1 vs. Inglemoor
10/7 at Ballard
10/13 at Bothell
10/15 at Liberty
10/19 vs. Newport
10/20 vs. Interlake
