Just getting off the ground three years ago, Oxford’s varsity boys’ tennis team is hoping to use this season to continue building its reputation and garner community support.
According to Head Coach Ryan Ruzziconi, his three captains, senior Lauren Opalewski, junior Hayden Durant and junior Trevor Wallace are some of the players to pay attention to this season. Sophomore doubles team Brenden Hamari and Gabe Smith have also performed well early in the season and are currentlty the squad’s best doubles team.
Opalewski is the only senior on the team this year and is playing with the boys for the second season in a row with the hopes of landing a spot on a college team.
“Lauren is an elite tennis player, she has a number of offers to play college tennis at the D1 and D2 level,” Ruzziconi said. “She wanted a little more competition and she is also looking for (fall season tennis) where college recruiters are paying more attention (whereas Oxford’s girls play in the spring).”
The team has started the season strong with a tournament win on Saturday, Aug. 18 and a few game wins. Ruzziconi hopes to continue building this forward momentum and building the skills of his young team.
“Most of our varsity roster (players) are juniors and sophomores,” he said. “So we think we have good things to build on this year going into next year.”
While they continue working to improve, the team hopes to earn some support and have fans from the community.
“We want to get the tennis program known in the community and have people come see us play,” Ruzziconi said. “We want to invite people to our practices to watch us continue building the program and build tennis in the Oxford community.”
The Wildcats will take the court again on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. away at Almont.