Marshalltown moves into first-of-its-kind season with revamped roster, new coach
Not a lot about the first fall season of Marshalltown High School girls tennis isn’t new.
The Bobcats swing into the first-ever season of fall tennis this morning with a dual meet at Union Community in La Porte City, and they’ll do it with a new coach and an almost entirely new lineup.
Only two starters from the spring campaign are back for the Bobcats, meaning first-year head coach James Christensen has a lot to look at during the first competition of the new season.
“I’m excited to see where the girls are at,” he said. “You get to a point in the preseason where you’re playing each other for 10, 12 days and we just need to hit against somebody else.”
With only two returning starters and a sparse amount of tennis experience in general, the Bobcats are a long way from following up on back-to-back spring seasons of at least 13 dual wins.
“We really have no expectations for going to La Porte, I’m just excited to see what the girls are able to do, see what they’ve learned,” said Christensen, who also coaches the Bobcat boys tennis team. “And we’ve got plenty of time to correct any wrongs that pop up. This will be good for them.”
Junior Kate Sandvick will be the Bobcats’ top singles player this fall after going 10-2 at No. 2 singles in the spring. She joined with then-senior Kennedy Feldman for a spot in the Class 2A state doubles tournament back in May, and her experience and ability will set the bar for MHS girls tennis right out of the gate.
Senior Ellie Downs was the No. 6 singles performer for MHS in the spring, and she’ll align at No. 2 this fall. She went 7-5 in singles action and has teamed with Sandvick to set the tone in practice this summer.
“They were varsity girls last year for coach (John) Fiscus, and they were a part of a great team last year,” said Christensen. “Having a couple of girls back from that team has been great for our culture. We’ll be leaning heavily on Kate and Ellie.
“Having those girls back is huge, being able to show some of the newer girls how to practice, how to warm up, give them some advice. That’s invaluable for me as well — having them around is awesome.”
Marshalltown returns another eight girls from last year’s junior varsity roster, starting with seniors Taylor Bear and Grace Diggins. They’re expected to help fill out the starting singles lineup, alongside fellow seniors Lilyia Christen and Jorja Janssen.
Christen played some varsity doubles as a sophomore, but that’s it for varsity experience for this season’s starting lineup.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Christensen said. “The girls have been just awesome to work with. I know quite a few of them from either having them in class, having them in Bobcat Tennis Academy, or just seeing them around the courts during the spring season when we cross paths. We have a lot of girls that are either new to the sport or new to maybe a higher position on the team.
“Tennis is a sport that’s built on years of repetition, and a lot of the teams we are going to go up against are girls that just play tennis 12 months a year. We don’t have that luxury here in Marshalltown. But looking at our team — we’ve got state qualifying wrestlers, state qualifying tennis players, girls who are great at softball and basketball and all sorts of other sports. So I’m super excited to watch them play tennis.”
The Bobcats open the season with consecutive road meets at Union Community and at Fort Dodge next Tuesday. Marshalltown’s first home meet of the fall will be a triangular on Thursday, Aug. 14, with Iowa Alliance Conference foes Mason City and Ottumwa visiting the Marshalltown Court Complex.
“It’s going to take some hard work, but they’re not allergic to that from what I’ve seen so far,” Christensen said. “They’ll catch up.”