Kingston looks to continue with rebuilding
The Kingston High girls team will look to improve on last year’s 1-12 mark when it opens the season Tuesday.
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The Kingston High girls tennis team seeks to improve on last season’s 1-12 mark when it opens its 2018 season at home against Warwick at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, at Forsyth Park.
Tigers coach Coach Bill Constant said this season represents a second straight rebuilding year, despite his squad having eight returning players.
Kingston lost third and fourth singles players Patricia Kuster and Christina Demosthenes, who graduated last year.
The season opener will not be an easy one for the Tigers, who last defeated the Wildcats two years ago, Constant said.
“It was the first time we beat them in 12-15 years,” Constant said.
While his returning players have experience, they still need a lot more practice to truly play at a varsity level. He added that several of his players never played organized tennis, other than going down to the courts and practices.
Constant said despite last year’s struggles, his team stayed mostly upbeat throughout the season.
“They very rarely were brooding when we lost a match,” he said.
One silver lining last season
was Kingston’s first singles player Lila Freeman. As an eighth-grader, she made a run to the state tournament, where she lost in the first round.
Constant said he could not recall another occasion in his nearly 20-year career coaching Kingston girls tennis where a player made states.
Freeman said her goal this season is to make it much farther in the state tournament, where she was one of three players selected from Section 9. She added that she hopes a lot of practice, a positive attitude and a good deal of confidence will allow her to build on last year.
“I’m very happy we have a big team,” Freeman said. “Last year we didn’t have many players.”
Anchoring second singles is senior Vyda VanDenburg, who moved there from fourth singles last season. VanDenburg, a member of the varsity squad since eighth grade, said feels it’s going to be a difficult season.
While there are a lot new players VanDenburg said she’s seen a good combination of skill and heart.
“And that’s important for a tennis season,” she said.
Looking ahead to the season, VanDenburg said some of the team’s toughest tests will be matches against Valley Central and Monroe-Woodbury.
VanDenburg also said that, with a young team, the Tigers are working on playing a more defensive game. She added that confidence will be key to the team improving on last year’s mark.
“Confidence can bring you farther in a match than skills,” she said.
Also returning are Stephanie Green, Keira Holsapple, McKinley Mulstay, Rebecca Shawn, Julene Ventura, Vanessa Wilkins and Olivia Scaturro.
New this season are Veronika Rakchey, Neema Muanda, Kassidy Ackerman and Olivia Scaturro.
Constant said at least he can draw from a wider pool of players who tried out for the team this year.
“Last year we had 11 kids. This year, we have about 20,” Constant said, “so we have enough for a JV team so everyone gets to play.”
The Tigers had a pretty good run from 2011-2016, but they struggled after players graduated.
Looking farther into the future, Constant feels optimistic. He pointed to the city-sponsored National Junior Tennis Lessons program which had 75 youngsters this summer, 65 percent of them girls. The
program, which dates to the 1970s, was started by longtime Kingston sports program supporter Ron Woods, who enlisted the help of the late professional tennis legend Arthur Ashe, Constant said.
But he cautioned that drawing from this pool will be more of a long-term effort, as many of the players are in third or fourth grade.
“It’s going to a while,” Constant said.
SCHEDULE
AUG. — 28, WARWICK, 10 a.m.; 30, at Cornwall, 10 a.m. SEPT. — 7, MONROE-WOODBURY, 4 p.m.; 12, at Newburgh Free Academy, 4 p.m.; 14, PINE BUSH, 4 p.m.; 17, MIDDLETOWN, 4 p.m.; 20, at Minisink Valley, 4 p.m.; 21, at Liberty, 4:30 p.m.; 24, VALLEY CENTRAL, 4 p.m.; 26, at Monroe-Woodbury, 4 p.m.; 28, NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY, 4 p.m. OCT. — 1 at Washingtonville, 4:30 p.m.; 3, at Pine Bush, 4 p.m.; 5, at Middletown, 4 p.m. Home matches in CAPS.