Troy tennis anxious to take to the court

Head Troy Trojan’s tennis coach Milo Rogers is looking forward to another fun year of tennis, and so is the team. As a matter of fact, the players were ready to get back on the courts before the official start of the season last Monday. “Heck, they were hounding me when there was snow on the courts to put nets up,” Rogers said.

On Friday, the sun shined, music played and the thwok of tennis balls could be heard at the Troy tennis courts as the team wrapped up their first week of practice. “Days like this, it’s great to come down and hit some balls,” Rogers said.

He said the team could benefit from a few more girls, but with softball and track also on the spring schedule it’s a challenge to get the kind of numbers he would like to see. The girls’ team has four players returning to the squad.

“Allie Brown played No. 1 singles as a freshman last year, so that experience should really help her,” said assistant coach Nancy Prieve. She said Azure Stever was a strong No. 2 and looks good again this year, as do several of the young girls on the squad.

On the boys’ side, the Trojans have a pretty full roster, which includes some returning players with state tournament experience under their rackets. Senior Dominic Chiaverini went to state in singles last year and Craig Helmrick and CJ Beard competed in doubles competition. Alex Day and Brennan Olds should also be a formidable doubles team for the Trojans.

Rogers doesn’t like to gloat about individual players’ skillsets, but enjoys watching them develop throughout the season and year-to-year. “I’m excited to see the kids play again this year and see how they improve from one year to the next, that’s what I’m looking forward to,” he said.

“We should have some competitive doubles teams and a couple of singles guys will be pretty strong too,” Rogers said. “Dominic had a chance to play No. 1 often last year, which was good for him to do because he got more experience against some upperclassmen.”

Chiaverini is feeling good about his chances to make some noise in singles this year. “A lot of the seniors that placed ahead of me last year graduated. So I’m trying to place in the top three, last year I was one win away from being all-state,” Chiaverini said.

It’s a joy for Rogers to pass on a sport that can be played for a lifetime and only requires two people to get a game started, unlike basketball or baseball. “It’s always a huge pleasure to come down and see people hitting the courts and playing all of their life. Even when you play doubles, you only need four people,” Rogers said.

The Trojans open the season with a scrimmage at home against Clark Fork on March 24. Rogers said the Idaho school only has one tennis court so they try to accommodate scrimmages with the team as often as they can. On March 28 the Lady Trojans will travel to Superior for matches against the Bobcats and Granite High School.

The boys and girls will then take the courts on April 4 against Libby.