Pictured: Haileigh Ruiz serves the ball at a Buhler Invitational tennis match last season. Photographer t. nickel
By Cole Campbell and Rylen Holzman, BHS Sports Writing
September 8, 2023
BUHLER, KS - Buhler's Girls Tennis team looks forward to the season with Kansas Tennis Association 4A Boys Coach of the Year Matt Babcock. Despite the heat, they have started to figure out how they are going to operate with so many new changes to their varsity lineup
The JV team has it figured out already having won their first 8-team tournament that ended early due to the intolerable heat.
Their varsity squad has been trying to get things figured out with a couple of 5th places, and 4th and 3rd placings, but no firsts yet for the varsity side of things. This year they will have 6 new varsity players, all pretty equally matched, fighting for starting spots.
“We have a lot of new faces this year playing varsity for the first time. We have a lot of girls who have similar games and who are very evenly matched. I'm not sure we'll know who our top 6 are for sure until at least halfway through the season. All of the top girls will get opportunities at varsity meets, and we'll see which players have the best results and pick up the most quality wins and see where we go from there,” said Babcock.
Making the most of these opportunities is going to play a big role this season due to the heat limiting practice and making it even harder for coaches to decide on starting spots.
“For us, the weather has been a nightmare. Practice time is significantly reduced due to heat restrictions, morning practices, kids juggling tennis and band, etc. It's been tough on them, and tough on us as coaches to get our lineup figured out since there is so little time for challenge matches or skill work. All teams are going through it and dealing with it, but because of all of our unknowns this year it's especially difficult,” said Babcock.
The heat plays a big role because the tennis courts get up to 10-15 degrees hotter than the outside temp. This can be very dangerous considering it's already 100 degrees outside which could put the courts anywhere from 100 - 115 degrees.
Even though it's cooler off the courts it is still hot outside and there is little to no shade at the Buhler tennis courts. Babcock had suggestions for fans.
“There is lots of seating at our facility, and you can sit courtside on all 8 courts. There is not a lot of shade though, so sunscreen and/or an umbrella would probably be recommended. There are no concessions, so a little snack bag and some water would also be useful,” said Babcock.
Stay updated with Buhler Girls tennis on their Facebook page or through the Crusader Athletics Twitter or Facebook feed.