By Matthew Peaslee
It’s shaping up to be an interesting season for the Morgantown girls tennis team. The Mohigans are used to great success at the regional and state level, but the 2022 campaign will be more of a rebuilding year.
That’s not to say they aren’t a talented group.
“We have 10 players and we’re figuring out our best lineups as we go along,” said head coach Ted Greenlee. “We’re plugging along and doing the best we can. The girls we have are all trying really hard out there and you can see the progress they’re making.”
Morgantown is the eight-time defending regional and Ohio Valley Atheltic Conference champions. The experience the underclassmen are getting this season should get them back to that level in the near future.
The Mohigans have unique depth this season as Greenlee said he can run out several different doubles teams.
Juniors Amy Lu and Sam Carver play on the top doubles team.
“They’ve both done very well,” Greenlee said.
Sophomore Grace Forman and freshman Maddie Carver (Sam’s younger sister) make up the No. 2 doubles; and seniors Lauren Gilchrist and Amber Li also make up a doubles team.
The senior tandem will focus on upcoming matches as they will have to bow out of the season early due to commitments in their college courses. They will be taking classes at WVU before the spring semester ends, making them unable to compete in the regional tennis tournament.
“The seniors have gone up against some really good teams so far,” Greenlee said. “They had a real nice showing against Parkersburg.”
“We’re getting them a chance to play this year,” Greenlee said. “It’s a developmental year, especially for our juniors and below. It’ll be a good experience for them and they’ll continue to grow.”
Others on the team include sophomores Gabby Selders and Nicole Lin, who will team up for doubles in OVAC matches, and sophomores Ruby Van Eden and Mattie Walker, who will play doubles in regional matches.
The Mohigans lost three of their top five players from last year’s team due to injury, graduation and a player not coming back out for tennis. The team is just three seasons removed from a state championship in 2019, also winning a title in 2015.
Isabella Mascari, now playing at Shepherd, and Mackenzie Sorton, now playing at Fairmont State, capped off their MHS careers in 2019 as singles and doubles champions.
In a few years, this young Morgantown team has a solid chance of achieving that, too. Greenlee said there are several current eighth-graders who will be playing varsity this time next year. One of which is his granddaughter, Maya.
Greenlee played tennis at WVU in the 1960s and has continued to demonstrate his passion for the sport all these years later. In 2019, he was named the WV Coach of the Year, the NFHS Coach of the Year and the Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year.
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