This season, returning top players are Junior Jacob Lukkarila #1 in Singles. Last year he was 32-3 on the season and made the state individual tournament. Next, there is Junior Brady Gruenhagen, #2 Singles. Last year he was 21-4 and played mostly 2nd doubles last season. Finally, they have Senior Caleb Quernemoen, #3 in Singles. Last year he was 22-5 and played #3 doubles last season. These are also the three captains for the season.
The team has many goals for the season. The first is to win the conference. Last year, they were conference champs for the 5th time out of the last 8 years. Next, they are going to work towards getting better each day. They want to change their best each time they play so they can see improvement over the course of the year.
“This year, we are looking forward to growth and having a lot of fun as we develop our young squad,” stated Coach Hokan Bengtson. “Last year was our best overall record in the history of the program; we finished 20-4 overall. This year we will be developing the younger players and have the more experienced players lead by example.”
Hopefully, these strategies will allow them to be able to go against one of their toughest competitors in the conference: Foley. Although many seniors from last year graduated and are no longer with the team, there are a few other players which bring experience to the team. For example, Jordan Ulbrich, Basil Ricker, and Adam Persons all played some varsity doubles last year.
Captain Jacob Lukkarila says he started playing this sport because of the great coaching staff and now he plays because he finds the sport enjoyable. Although he was first worried about having to fill the big shoes of the seniors, he is definitely looking forward to being able to lead the team in an exciting year with a lot of new faces and great atmosphere.
Their first match of the season was Tues., April 3 against Sartell and are hosted a tournanment with Delano, Buffalo and Brainerd on Sat., April 7.
