It’s going to be a year of building for the Whitehall tennis team, whose roster is set to be composed of mostly freshmen and sophomores.
Longtime Whitehall assistant coach Tom Sheesley has taken over the girls head coaching position, and he welcomes former Viking star Vanessa Heylmun to his staff as an assistant this spring. Heylmun played collegiately at Aquinas and has coached several current Vikings in summer programs, so her addition should be seamless, Sheesley said.
Whitehall’s final lineup positions remain largely up in the air as the season draws near. The Vikes must replace, among others, graduated seniors Lizbeth Bentz and Autumn Ferris, who were first singles and doubles players respectively.
“This year we had a couple girls that are seniors that didn’t come out, so i don’t have a senior on the team this year,” Sheesley said. “We’re a much less experienced team.”
As it stands, Whitehall will probably turn to either Grace McDowell or Brianna Bentz, both returning veterans, at the top singles flight. Doubles pairs will probably be determined by trial and error early in the season as Sheesley hunts for the right combinations. Izzy Gould, a starter last year, is an up-and-comer to watch, as is freshman Akeelah Martin, whom Sheesley credits with a lot of work to improve her game after a strong middle school career.
“We have some good young players,” Sheesley said. “Inexperience will be a big deal when it comes to match play against other schools. Just from the beginning of the year until now, I’ve seen a ton of improvement. It’s just getting them to understand that a lot of these girls played in middle school, but going to high school tennis is a big jump. It’ll be a big difference. Tennis is very much a mental game, so it will take a little while.”
With the growth mindset in place, the Vikes are less concerned with any particular matchup or meet than on continuous improvement in 2024. Sheesley said he hopes by the end of the season, the team is consistently competitive. With strong programs like Fremont, Ludington and Manistee on the league schedule, Whitehall will get plenty of chances to see how it stacks up.
“It will be interesting to see how some of our Saturday tournaments go and how we fare,” Sheesley said.
