Few teams in the state will be as experienced as the Whitehall Vikings this spring. The team didn't have any seniors last year and brought back every upperclassman.
"What we'll have this year is more depth," Whitehall coach Tom Sheesley said. "We'll be stronger just because it's a year later and some girls did some things in the offseason to improve their game."
It doesn't take more than one look at the lineup to see that depth illustrated. Preseason challenge matches resulted in last year's No. 1 singles player, Grace McDowell, taking the No. 3 position to start the season, behind Akeelah Martin and Brianna Bentz. Fellow veteran Alivia DeWildt is in the No. 4 position. Few area squads will be stronger top to bottom in the singles flights.
"They'll all be key players," Sheesley said. "The different flights will all be key players, but those are showing at a pretty high level."
In addition to bringing back all their top players, the Vikes brought in some good freshmen who have already made an impact. Riley Shafer has joined Izzy Gould at the top doubles flight, and Avarie Bentz, Braelee Fogus and Bea Lewis are also in the starting lineup.
"I think that the freshman group has a lot of promise," Sheesley said. "They'll play key roles in some of our lower doubles and singles flights."
Whitehall's improvement isn't just evident from its early results, but, Sheesley said, from the players' attention to detail in practice.
"I think the girls this year have a better understanding of expectations as far as what they need to do and what has to happen for us to be successful," Sheesley said. "We've talked about having to make sure we work on something specific when we have to and not giving minutes away. The captains - Grace, Bri and Akeelah - they're doing a few things as far as building a team and getting kids comfortable."
Whitehall expects to be competitive in the Coastal Conference. Ludington is always one of the better teams in the league, and North Muskegon and Manistee played competitive matches against the Vikes a year ago.
"I think we'll be in a good position this year as far as competing once we get our lineup set," Sheesley said. "I think we'll be a little better than last year just because it's a year later...I think we'll be in a position where if we play well, we could compete for the conference."
