Players are shuffled in and out of singles events - often playing at different seedings - and doubles competitors are juggled between teams to find potential cohesive units.
It makes early-season outlooks a bit of a crap shoot.
If Robitaille has hopes of his girls' squad winning the school's first state title since 1992, he might want to consider keeping juniors Lauren Crandall and Emily Rolston together in the No. 1 doubles' spot. After conquering a divisional title last May, the pair downed a team of seniors from Bozeman to win the state doubles championship and push Hellgate on to the medal stand.
“It was interesting because there was a series of matches during the beginning of the season where definitely were not playing like the best team in the state, and they'd be the first ones to tell you that,” Robitaille said. “They got a good break or two at state, but they earned that title. They played their best tennis of the year at state.”
In addition to the defending doubles' champions, the Hellgate girls boast a nice mix of senior leadership and youthful energy brought by six freshman, the most Robitaille has placed on his varsity team in six years at Hellgate.
Alex Brown and Hannah Rolston are the Knights' seniors, who lead by example in playing in both singles and doubles.
But Robitaille believes that a strong finish will begin with his top doubles pairing.
“Our success will depend in large part on Emily and Lauren. They have their work cut out for them wearing the tag of defending state champs. It's going to be a challenge, but I think they're looking forward to it.”
The Hellgate boys are set to debut top singles' threat Eric Braun, a gifted freshman who spent the last 10 years in Peru. The addition of Braun will shift junior Jared Tsosie down to No. 2 singles, where he'll more competitive.
The Knights' other standouts include junior doubles' player Michael Akland and junior Dylan Brown, who came on strong at the end of last season.
“One of the exciting things for me this year is that we (the Hellgate boys) don't have any seniors,” Robitaille said. “We're a fairly inexperienced team, but we're going to improve as the season goes on.”
Missoula Big Sky
The boys' team at Missoula Big Sky is playing for a new coach in Hugh Daniels after Josh Munro left to teach this fall at Flathead.
The Eagles are led on the courts by Yannick Mueller, a foreign exchange student from Germany, who Daniels believes capable of challenging the best singles players in the state.
“I like the way he plays,” Daniels said referring to his team's brightest new addition. “It's really going to be interesting to see how good he can get through the course of the season.”
Zach Stephens, Jason Dark, Spencer Powell and Barrett Snider all saw action in singles for Big Sky last weekend. Luke Jindrich and Dylan Robbins went undefeated at No. 1 doubles in matches against Helena High, Helena Capital and Hellgate to open the season Saturday.
Juniors Lacey Phelan and Dani Hayes should stay as No. 1 doubles' unit for the Big Sky girls, while Joscelyn Thomson and Hanley Caras will hold down Big Sky's top-two singles spots.
“You know, the sky's the limit for both groups,” Daniels said. We're 12 deep on each side and I'm really impressed with the talent these kids have.”
Missoula Sentinel
The Spartan boys went 2-1 in matches Saturday, posting an impressive 8-0 victory over Hellgate and a 7-1 defeat of Kalispell before falling to Helena High 5-3.
Phil Ehrlich and John Halligan each spent time at No. 1 singles, while Pete Flesch and Nick Shull played two matches at No. 1 doubles. Andres Bonilla and Juan Pablo Orego also saw singles' action for the Spartans, while Pat Gentilli and Peter Kress won both doubles' matches they played as a team.
On the girls' side, Lindsay Holmstrom and Zoe Donovan are Sentinel's top singles' players, while Kendra Donovan and Brett Rubie are 3-0 playing together at No. 1 doubles.
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