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Sunday, June 1, 2008
Panthers Looking To Reload
St. Paul, MN
By: Bryan Horwath, VYPE High School Sports Magazine
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Photo(s) By: Kyle Danztler/MyActionPortraits.com
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The Mounds Park Academy boys tennis team won the first-ever state championship for the school, which opened in 1982, when it captured the Class A title in 2005.
Apparently enjoying its new label, the team went out and won another championship a year later and followed that up with a third-place finish at the 2007 state tournament.
With longtime Mounds Park coach Michelle Olson being replaced by Rod Vaught this season, there was change in the air on Larpenteur Avenue in St. Paul. Vaught is no stranger to success and has an extensive tennis resume. Playing for Division I Southwest Missouri State (now known as Missouri State), Vaught was an All-Conference player in the early 1980’s and served a stint as the men’s tennis coach at Indiana State.
After losing some key components to the success the Panthers had enjoyed in recent years, Vaught says 2008 has had the feel of a transition season. “This is a bit of a rebuilding year for us,” Vaught said. “We lost six players from last year and with a new coach coming in, it takes a little time to get our team chemistry right.”
Ben Yates and Nate Eigenfeld made it to state as a doubles team in 2007 and represent one third of those departing seniors. The Panthers also said goodbye to 2007 Class A state singles champion Bryan Kelly, but returned some talent as well.
Ian Rollwitz came back this year as the senior captain after appearing in the state doubles tournament with Karl Berget last June. Berget has since graduated, but senior Andrew Johnson, also an accomplished basketball player for the Panthers, was back and the team’s other captain.
Connor Hart was another returning varsity player with some experience and has been listed among the top 15 players in Class A this season. Hart made it to the quarterfinals at the state singles tournament last summer before losing 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 to St. Cloud Cathedral’s Peter Freese. “Connor has been set at No. 1 singles all year and has done a good job for us,” Vaught said.
Rollwitz, who plans to play tennis at St. Olaf after high school, has also seen this year as a rebuilding-type year. “We had a lot of younger players and there were some adjustments that had to be made,” Rollwitz said. “(Coach Vaught) really knows his stuff, though, and I think we’ve learned a lot from him.”
Getting out of Section 4A is no easy task as talented teams like The Blake School and St. Paul Academy stand in the way. But Vaught chooses patience and focuses more on the big picture as he tried to find a good mix of veterans and younger players.
“Coaching at the high school level is about technique,” Vaught said. “With young players, you’re more concerned with doing things the right way and I think we will continue to gain confidence as a team as we move along. It’s going to be fun to help these young guys along and watch some of them develop.”
Vaught also had another important message for his new team. “I always want my players to have their priorities in line,” he said. “Education comes first and tennis comes second. No matter what level, high school or college, it should always be that way.”
Although wins have been harder to come by this season, Mounds Park is a program that is used to winning. It may take a little time for the Panthers to get back to their previous level, but Vaught seems like the right coach for the job.
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