Game, set, match

With the spring sports season in full swing, the boys tennis team looks to get this show on the road.

The New Ulm Eagles tennis team looks to start their season off right on Monday, March 26. With the tennis season being short, only eight weeks, the Eagles want to get the ball rolling. The Eagles first match is home against the Faribault Falcons on Thursday, April 5.

For a new player perspective we met with New Ulm senior Elijah Miller to get the scoop on his expectations for the season. We asked him how much tennis he has played and he said, “Every now and then I played in the summer with my mom. I also played on the tennis team back in 9th grade.” He told me that he does not have any real expectations for the season besides having fun. We then asked him if he would rather play singles or doubles and he said, “I am just happy to play on the team.” He also added that he liked the location of the courts, but he doesn’t like the many distractions that can be found around them. Some examples include the ponds which tend to produce some bugs and mosquitoes, how close the road is to the courts which can become very loud in tense situations, and airplanes overhead flying to the Municipal Airport.

There are a couple of big changes for this upcoming tennis season. The Eagles are looking to rebuild their team after losing eight of their ten starting varsity players from last year. Along with rebuilding, the Eagles are looking to use the new tennis shed for the first year. Coach Engeldinger said, “Yeah! I’m super psyched of course! It is going to be hassle free living.”  When asked about the most exciting things for this season, coach Engeldinger said he is “excited for a new beginning.” With losing most of the team last season, Engeldinger is concerned with the number of people interested in going out this year. He will be busy reconstructing and making the best team he can. As always, Engeldinger’s goal is not about winning every meet, but about focusing on “making better tennis players” in the process.

When talking to Coach Engeldinger about why he wanted to coach, he said, “Well… Poncin had been coaching forever, but he was approaching retirement and my daughter was getting older, so I thought why not?  They usually want teachers to coach as much as possible and I was one of the only tennis players, so it just worked out.” Engeldinger has coached seven years of girls junior high tennis and then he switched to boys tennis and has been back for six years.