THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
McAlester High School Athletics

McAlester tennis coach Chad Waller knows the upcoming Class 5A regional tournaments on both sides are bound to be tough. The girls are scheduled to compete on Monday and the boys are set to play May 6 — both playing at Cascia Hall against some of the best competition in the sate. “We’re going to have to really come through, push our nerves to the side and just go out and work on the little tactics and fundamentals that I’ve been trying to work with them on practice in order for us to get through to get to state this year,” he said. McAlester has been working on poaching in tennis, as well as the I formation in doubles, which the server and partner get in a near straight line during the serve. Waller said some tactics will be necessary to compensate for other things. He said the girls will not be seeded in three out of the four matches come regionals. Not everything is 100 % set in stone, either, as Waller was still trying to decide on Thursday who will be the two-doubles pair at regionals. He said Lexi Zurovetz and Elizabeth Milligan were candidates for the spots, but so were Makayla Oxford and Gracie Dominguez. Waller later said in a text message his criteria for picking two doubles would be who put in the work and embraced the necessary components and tactics that he feels who’ll implement the best at regionals. The others have been decided. Abby Ervin is the one-singles, Rebekah Briggs is two-singles and Raigen LeFlore and Sarah Williams are on one-doubles. Waller said he still believed in Briggs even though she’s not seeded at regionals. “She’s a good enough player to qualify for state,” Waller said of Briggs. “She just has some bad losses that really hurt her.” The boys are going with Caden Burmeier at one-singles and Derek Frasca at two-singles. Brothers Caleb and Kyle Williams will be the one-doubles, while Alhtoba Haynes and Maverick Spillman comprise of the two-doubles. Waller said McAlester could be seeded in every spot at regionals. A notable highlight for the boys this season came on April 10, when they won the Tulsa City tennis tournament championship. Waller praised the performances of his one-doubles and two-doubles. McAlester defeated Booker T. Washington in the one doubles finale, and the two doubles had “by far” their best tournament of the year. The championship, though, does not negate the challenges the boys face at regionals. Weather has forced McAlester to miss some practices and events. Consistency is another challenge. Waller said McAlester had a poor first set against Booker T. Washington in Tulsa before bouncing back in the second set and later winning the super tiebreak to claim the match. McAlester took part in the Durant Tournament April 23. It defeated an Ardmore team Waller called solid in doubles, but lost to a Durant team afterward that Waller didn’t think was as good. “Every tournament they play, they usually have at least one or two good matches, but at regionals, you’re going to have to show up for every match,” he said.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
McAlester High School Athletics

MCALESTER LOOKING TO MAKE SPLASH AT REGIONALS

COREY STOLZENBACH

McAlester News-Capital | 4/27/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy Photo