The Mirror Newspapers Reflecting Life Along The Maumee River
BY JEREMY SCHNEIDER | MIRROR SPORTS — After the success his boys tennis team had in the spring, Maumee coach Ted Morse is expecting more highlights from his girls squad this autumn.
Morse has 24 girls on his roster, more than he’s ever had before at Maumee. It allows him to field full varsity and junior varsity squads, and he credits the success the boys team had with the excitement and dedication surrounding the girls team.
“There are a lot of new faces, a lot of underclassmen,” Morse said. “We’re going to have two separate squads, so there will be a lot more on-the-court coaching this year.”
It’s not just numbers for numbers sake, either. Morse has seen a bigger buy-in from his players, too. He said there were girls practicing over the winter and coming to practice four days a week over the summer.
“They just love the sport,” Morse said. “The last two weeks that I’ve been working with them, it shows.
“They love being out there, they love hitting. It shows where the program is right now.”
Much as he did before the boys season, Morse is making some bold predictions for his girls program, saying he expects them to win three or four Northern Lakes League matches and most of their non-league matches.
He said the girls team will rely upon the success of its third singles and both doubles teams to take match wins.
“When we play Anthony Wayne, Northview, Perrys-burg, against most teams, we’re not going to win 1 or 2 singles,” he said. “A lot of matches last year came down to 3-2 (scores), one court. If we can flip a couple of those courts, it’s going to get us a couple more dual wins than in years past.
“We’re not going to be the prettiest team out there, but we can win 3-2, 4-1, and it all comes down to fundamentals.”
Morse said the team is built around a solid core of players, led by senior Beverly O’Neill and sophomore Sam Mavis. They’ll be joined by seniors Cora Boyles and Sophia Bula and juniors Alex Ybarra and Kimmie Ouwafeyikemi.
“We’re going to win some dual matches this year,” Morse said. “Our kids are excited. They just love being on the court, which makes my life easy.”
