Andy Voorheis Photography
Junior Dane Schlipmann and senior Evan Patelli are the top West doubles team and are having a strong season. In the second year of taking over the program, Coach Drew Emerick continues to build team culture.
Before the season, boys tennis head coach Drew Emerick, said that he would be disappointed with anything less than a top four finish in the Big 12 conference.
Well, the team currently sits at an overall record of 8-4, with a record of 4-2 in the Big 12 and are tied for the third best record in the conference.
Emerick claims that he is very satisfied with the way the season has been going thus far.
Emerick’s desire to recruit kids who are multi-sport athletes who would be able to easily pick up tennis has shown to pay dividends for the team this season.
“I’m pretty happy with how the season is going so far. We’ve been competing with teams that we should be competing with. We are at four and two in the conference right now and really happy with the kids’ competitiveness.
“We’ve got a lot of compliments from other coaches about how hard we play, and how we just get to every ball, which is a little bit of a tribute to the kids’ athleticism and competitiveness, so I’m happy with how things are going so far,” Emerick said.
The players voted and chose to make number two singles and number one doubles player junior Dane Schlipmann and number one singles and number one doubles player senior Evan Patelli team captains, and Emerick couldn’t be happier about their decision.
“Both are very good leaders by example. They both have two different leadership styles. Dane is a little more vocal, Evan is a little bit more quiet, but both are very important to the team. They just set a really good example for the younger kids, and I’ve been super happy with how they played one doubles together before this year. Their record is 8-4, and [they’ve done] a really really nice job leading the team at the one and two singles spot,” Emerick noted.
Team building and team culture has been something that’s extremely important to Emerick as the team has had fun themed practices and even had an overnight tournament in a hotel.
“Our team culture is an important thing for me to keep kids interested in the program. Tennis is just one part of it, so the varsity team took a trip up north and we got to stay overnight in a hotel, which was a good experience for them.
“We’ve [also] had a couple of team dinners, where families host the kids over for dinner. They get to eat and just hang out without the coaches being there,” Emerick added.
The boys tennis team this year features five seniors–Evan Patelli, Nolan Lampert, Michael Zaleski, Trevor Pomis, and Brady Smith.
Patelli has played tennis all four years of high school and is a two-year varsity captain who is currently the number one singles player and number one doubles player along with fellow captain Dane Schlipmann.
Patelli’s singles record is currently 8-8, along with a doubles record of 8-4.
“Senior year is going great. I think we’ve exceeded our expectations so far, and we’ve still got a little bit of season left to see what else we can do. My experience overall has been awesome. As a freshman I’d never played tennis and now it’s my favorite sport, so I’ve grown to love it,” Patelli said.
Senior Nolan Lampert, a three year tennis player, has excelled at the
(Andy Voorheis Photography)
number four singles spot with a current record of 9-3, and the number two doubles spot with a doubles record of 7-7, alongside senior Michael Zaleski.
“I’ve been more successful than ever this year and just been improving overall a lot more,” Lampert added.
Lampert’s doubles partner Michael Zaleski has done extremely well as the number five singles player this season with a current record of 10-2, and the number two doubles spot, holding a 7-7 doubles record with Lampert.
“[The] Tennis program’s just a positive environment, having a great time with my senior year. Everyone’s having fun out here getting better, and I’ve seen a lot of improvement in my senior season,” Zaleski said.
There’s also two first-time senior tennis players in senior Trevor Pomis, who has done very well playing in the number three doubles spot, and junior Tyler Cunningham, with a current doubles record of 10-1.
Pomis decided to join the tennis team his senior year because, “I was bad at track, and this [tennis] is very laid back.”
The final senior is Brady Smith. Despite being new to the team this season, Smith has added a lot to the team’s culture and has helped improve the program in a short period of time.
Smith joined tennis in his senior year because, as he says, “I’ve just been trying out stuff the whole time in high school. I said I might as well try tennis and see how it goes. I would say I’m not the best at tennis, but I’d like to say I have maybe a top three serve when it goes in.”
The team is about two weeks away from their conference tournament, which will determine their seeding heading into postseason play.
Emerick and the team knows that there is still work to be done as Emerick said that, “our goal was to get top three or four conference…but the boys have to be ready to eat then we can come looking forward to conference and then that weekend after sectionals, hopefully get a trip to state.”
The Wildcats host their senior night celebration on Tuesday May 6, where senior recognition begins at 4 pm, immediately followed by matchup play versus Limestone!