Neosho girls tennis returns three starters from last season to lead the way in 2024.
“We are very excited,” Neosho coach Nick Hays said to NewsTalk KZRG about the upcoming season. “We did lose three out of our six varsity players, but we have some good players that were almost varsity and ready to step into those positions. We have also had a couple players move in with some experience and some younger players who have been getting lessons and are off to a good start in practices so far.”
The Wildcats finished with a 2-11, 1-8 Central Ozark Conference and graduated Angel Lee, Sydnee Minton and Abigail Coutu a season ago.
Now Neosho will rely on a trio of seniors to lead the way in terms of experience and leadership—Keely Keeton, Emma VanDorn and Francisca Ruiz.
“We will likely graduate about half of our varsity players at the end of the season, so I hope that some good habits get passed down to the newer players and help them improve for next season,” Hays said.
Neosho opens the season with Kickapoo Invitational on Aug. 30 before hosting Monett on Sept. 5.
“I believe we are competitive at the bottom half of the varsity ladder as much as at the top,” Hays said about this season. “This should help us pick up some match wins in the lower part of the order which should hopefully translate into some more overall wins.”