With the warm weather arriving, the OHS Boys Tennis Team is ready to hit the courts for competition. The team’s first meet was scheduled for Tuesday, April 5 against Rosemount, which was then cancelled due to bad weather. Their first official meet was on Thursday, April 14 at Waseca, where they pulled off the shut-out, winning 7-0. Head Coach Curt Matejcek said, “I would like all of our players continue to improve not only their stroke production (hitting the ball) and conditioning but to also focus on the mental aspect of their game. Our goal is to finish in the top 3rd of the conference. Our captains have been doing a good job- a lot is expected of them and they have done a good job meeting those expectations.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Harrison Kuhn

Junior Derek Thada serving the ball

The team is small in numbers, but big in age, filling up with mostly juniors and seniors with the exception of one freshman and one sophomore. With a relatively short schedule, the season will fly by, for the seniors especially. Senior captain Mark Hanson said, “Anxious would probably be the best word to describe my feeling towards the season. I know that we have a great group of guys this year and I think we can make a statement in the Big 9. We want to compete in every single match and collect a lot of team wins. We have worked hard and set ourselves up to win matches this season, so I’d like to see us do that.” To catch the team’s next home meet, they will be hosting Albert Lea at OHS on Thursday, April 28 at 4:30 p.m.