BonnerSprings.com

With only one returning letter winner from the 2007 squad, the Bonner Springs High School girls tennis team expects to face plenty of challenges this fall.

The lone returning letter winner is Teran Holter. The Bravettes have a bit more experience, though, with two provisional letter winners in Renee Drury and Megan Miller. Both saw limited action with the varsity team last year. Nine girls on the team are playing organized tennis for the first time. Add those factors together and you end up with a true "rebuilding year."

"This is the fewest returning lettermen that I had in my 30 years of coaching," coach Bill Scott said. "I told them, don't take this the wrong way, but you are the most inexperienced group that I have coached."

With nearly half of the team playing for the first time, Scott has been getting questions about techniques that he really has not had to deal with, but he sees this as a great teaching opportunity.

"I am not going to judge the team on wins and losses, but I am going to judge them on if they are getting better from week to week," he said.

Scott's goals every year include placing in the top three during tournaments and to send someone to state. State is not a realistic goal for this team at the moment, he said.

"If we send somebody to state this year, they ought to give me National Coach of the Year," said Scott with a chuckle.

Adding to the inexperience, the challenging schedule that lies ahead adds to the mounting concerns. Scott has made the schedule more difficult in the past 30 years - playing in good tournaments and playing Class 6A schools. That might hurt his team's win-loss record this season, but it could pay dividends in the future as the members all improve and become more comfortable with the game.

The varsity squad is set with Holter, Miller and Drury as their top three players followed by a pack of seven girls that are similar in ability. After that, the last three spots are wide open for somebody with inspired play to take.

"They all have a good attitude," Scott said of the girls. "They show up early ready to work, and some are staying late to improve. This year is going to be fun for me, and hopefully for them too."

This team's goal is to improve. The players will be judged on how many games they can win in a set and if they can stay in points longer than they had in a previous match, and not what their record is, Scott said.

"We have (Bishop) Miege in two weeks to start off the season," Scott said. "We aren't ready for that, possibly the hardest opponent on our schedule to open the season. Talk about being thrown into the fire. That is going to be a tough start."

The Miege Dual takes place at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the Plaza tennis courts.