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Friday, August 1, 2008
7A-West Tennis At A Glance
Western Arkansas, AR
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By: Don Lowe
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Photo(s) By: Tom Ewart
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Whether you prefer to call it a dynasty or not, the Bentonville Tigers and Lady Tigers have continued to dominate tennis in Northwest Arkansas, as well as virtually everywhere else across this state for a number of years.
It may be more of the same in 2008 for coach Paul Pautsch's Tigers and Lady Tigers as they go after more championship hardware to display in their trophy case. In fact, despite having to replace former standouts such as Martin Tabler, Andrew Todd, Alice Havner, Abbey Sharpe and Alex Forsyth, among others, Pautsch insists that Bentonville's mindset won't change.
Speaking specifically about the expectations of his Lady Tigers, who will be going after their fifth consecutive state championship, Pautsch rather emphatically assured that "our goals remain the same and it is to win our conference and then win state. I think we have the group that can do that."
As the season gets under way, most league coaches and their players have reason to be fairly optimistic. Still, it will likely come down to how they ultimately fare against both of Pautsch's perennial powerhouse squads.
Fort Smith Southside Rebels and Lady Rebels coach Barbara Daniels may have summed it up best by suggesting she won't really have an accurate assessment of her team "until we go face-to-face with Bentonville."
Bentonville Tigers
Head Coach: Paul Pautsch
Welcome Back: Ryan Dinsmore, Sr.; Rex Chapman, Jr.; Brandon Ellis, Jr.
Up and Coming: Zach Ellis, Fresh.; Kevin Morris, Fresh.; Cory Clay, Fresh.
Pautsch Says… It will all boil down to who can step up and be a leader. It may be a young player. All of them are playing in a lot of tournaments and doing the things they should be doing in the summer.
Bentonville Lady Tigers
Head Coach: Paul Pautsch
Welcome Back: Anna Bever, Sr.; Arden Brazzeal, Sr.; Amy Anderson, Jr. Aksana Hillyer, Jr.; Kendall Kraus, Jr.
Up and Coming: McKenna Kraus, Fresh.
Pautsch Says: We'll be one of the strongest teams in the conference. Leadership will be a key, we need to find out which one of these girls can step up and be a true team leader.
Fayetteville Bulldogs
Head Coach: Darin Phelan
Welcome Back: Jeremy Jackson, Sr.; Payton Lea, Sr.; Harsha Malshe, Sr.; Joe McCain, Sr.; Rodrigo Medina, Sr.; Sanjay Selvam, Sr.; Russ Salamo, Sr.; Jonathan Weed, Sr.
Up and Coming: Keegan Whicker, Soph.; Bala Selvam, Soph.; Nathan Jones, Soph.; Robert Hodous, Soph.; Austin Dillard, Soph.; Rumil Bautista, Jr.; Ross Van Zandt, Jr.; Patrick Shields, Jr.; Robert Sherman, Jr.; Conner Severson, Jr.; Brij Panda, Jr.; Nikhil Kamath, Jr.; Mason Gocke, Jr.John Byrd, Jr.
Phelan Says… It will be an absolute clean slate for both of us. My main goal is to create a team atmosphere. It's an individual sport, but I'm going to look to build team chemistry.
Fayetteville Lady Bulldogs
Head Coach: Kim Dutton
Welcome Back: Meredith Armstrong, Sr.; Olivia Craft, Sr; Allison Ewing, Sr.; Paige Flores, Sr.; Mollie Ironside, Sr.; Georgia Mason, Sr.; Caroline McCombs, Sr; Candace Mooty, Sr.; Samantha Neill, Sr.; Haley O'Brien, Sr.; Tiffany Pagnozzi, Sr.
Up and Coming: Tara Tuttle, Soph.; Sammy Tejada, Soph.; London Lundstrum, Soph.; Brittany Pagnozzi, Jr.; Hillary Benton, Jr.; Annemarie Beck, Jr.
Fort Smith Northside Grizzlies
Head Coach: Audra Hamilton
Welcome Back: Sam Rappaport, Sr.
Fort Smith Northside Lady Bears
Head Coach: Audra Hamilton
Welcome Back: Caroline Delay, Sr.; Maggie Rogers, Sr.; Madison Coleman, Jr.
Fort Smith Southside Rebels
Head Coach: Barbara Daniels
Welcome Back: John Doohan, Sr.; Evan Daniels, Sr.; Scott Rogers, Sr.; Matt Henry, Sr.; John Koch, Sr.; Bill Blake, Jr.; John Bradley Smith, Jr.
Up and Coming: Nick Daily, Soph.
Daniels Says… This summer, I've had 18 boys working to try and get in the top 14. I always expect they'll (team) be good.
Fort Smith Southside Lady Rebels
Head Coach: Barbara Daniels
Welcome Back: Ann McFerran, Sr.; Alex Jaggers, Sr.; Molly Bell, Sr.; Kaitlin Sizemore, Sr.; Lindsey Skinner, Jr.; Madison Jones, Jr.; Kalyn Simpson, Jr.
Up and Coming: Ali Grahl, Soph.; Blakeley Knox, Soph.
Daniels Says… I like the effort they put out with these summer challenges. I've been very impressed. Bentonville is the team to beat. But, I think my girls will be very competitive.
Har-Ber Wildcats
Head Coach: Rick Horne
Welcome Back: Alan Bowman, Jr.; Chris Biddler, Sr.
Up and Coming: Eric Rodriguez, Fresh.
Horne Says… I think we'll be pretty good this year. I have some skilled players.
Har-Ber Lady Wildcats
Head Coach: Rick Horne
Welcome Back: No returnees
Up and Coming: Young and untested as a whole
Horne Says… We don't have anyone that stands out. We're in a rebuilding process. We're real inexperienced. We'll just have to find some players.
Heritage War Eagles
Head Coach: Matt Fulton
Welcome Back: No returnees; first-year program
Up and Coming: Jordan Martin, Jr.; Alex Wiench, Soph.; Patrick Green, Fresh.
Fulton Says… We have to go back to the baby steps. We'll slowly develop our program. We have to be patient. But, they'll have to learn on the job.
Heritage Lady War Eagles
Head Coach: Tara Wilf
Welcome Back: No returnees; first-year program
Up and Coming: Lauren Bundy, Jr.; Rachel Casey, Jr.; Mallory Hoffman, Jr.; Sarah Heimbach, Jr.; Emily Schaffer, Jr.; Ashley Schamier, Fresh.
Wilf Says… I have a good group of girls to help build our program. Individually, what we have to do is work at learning and building it together. I think we'll be competitive. I've learned a lot already.
Rogers Mountaineers
Head Coach: Steve Peck
Welcome Back: Trent Lamers, Soph.; Brandon Gentz, Soph.; Luke Pascoe, Soph.; Austin Westbrook, Soph.; Kyle Kelley, Soph.; Trent Clinton, Jr.; Taylor Marsh, Jr.
Peck Says… I expect a lot out of this group. I think we're in the top four. We'll be young, but I should have a fairly deep team this year.
Rogers Lady Mountaineers
Head Coach: Ronny Cowan
Welcome Back: Karsyn Betts, Sr.; Keely Dockins, Sr.; Michele Kilgore, Sr; Caroline Kelley, Jr.
Up and Coming: Emily Dockins, Fresh.
Cowan Says… As a team I like our experience and competitive nature. I think we will be improved. We have to fill the numbers five and six positions and if we stay healthy, I think we have a chance to be in the top three (in conference).
Springdale Bulldogs
Head Coach: Britt James
Welcome Back: Adam Neal, Sr.; Cirilo Villalobos, Sr.; Uriel Maqueda, Sr.; Denver Banks, Sr.; Joel Garcia, Jr.; Eric Norsavanh, Jr.
Up and Coming: Oteniel Centeno, Jr.
James Says… We'll be a lot more competitive. The main thing we picked up (last year) was the experience in playing a lot of matches.
Springdale Lady Bulldogs
Head Coach: Martha Wilf
Welcome Back: Yesenia Bautista, Sr.; Teresa Hernandez, Sr.; Sonia Teodoro, Sr.; Karen Bahena, Sr.; Jacquelin Sandoval, Sr.; Jayne Mota, Jr.;
Up and Coming: Allison Wiegmann, Jr.; Sonya Herrera, Jr.; Alexandria Crain, Jr.
Wilf Says… Would like to be competitive and our goal is to get somebody to state. Last year in our matches we were just trying to hit the ball. Hopefully this year we will be a little bit more aware of the strategy, such as how to place the ball.
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