If the Aberdeen Roncalli girls’ tennis team looks familiar this fall, it’s with good reason. The Cavaliers have all of their players back from a year ago.

“It’s fun to be coaching the same kids several years in a row,” said Roncalli assistant coach Kelly Rae Haskell, “and we’ve only got one senior, so even five of the six of our varsity will be back again next year.”

Haskell said it has been enjoyable watching the current group of girls literally grow up on the court the past few seasons.

“It’s been fun,” she said. “It’s not only fun to coach them and get to know their games and their personalities, but it’s also just fun to see them feel so comfortable with each other, too.”

Of course, there has been plenty of growth in their games as well, both mentally and physically, Haskell noted.

“I’ve always told the kids, a lot my success in business, I attribute to playing tennis,” Haskell said. “It teaches you to stay focused. It’s an individual sport; you have to be self-sufficient. So just seeing their focus and the mental side of it, it’s fun to watch the growth there, too.”

The lone senior on the team is Anna Mitzel, who provides solid leadership for the rest of the team.

“She loves the game,” Haskell said. “She loves the competition.”

The top three players in the lineup are all juniors: Katherine Kretchman, and twin sisters, River and Raley Haskell.

“They just have fun together. They’re so comfortable together,” Coach Haskell said. “They just enjoy the season. They play tennis year around, but there’s something about the high school season where you get that team feel.”

Rounding out the squad are Keira Rivett and Josie Mitchell, who both played varsity as well last season.

The Haskell twins and Rivett attended a tennis camp in Florida this past summer.

The Cavaliers start their season today in Mitchell with a triangular, facing Mitchell at 10 this morning and playing Huron this afternoon.

While the team has barely been practicing more than a week, Coach Haskell said she believes her players are ready. She said the season goes by fast.

“It is a challenge. You feel like you wish you had a few more practices before they had a meet, but at the same time, it’s like usually by the time we get to state in October, we’re hoping there’s not flurries and we’re trying to beat the cold weather coming,” she said. “We go from temperatures in the 90s to fighting flurries and putting on the winter coats at state sometimes.”

Haskell is also excited that the team has several junior varsity players for the first time in a few years.

When asked about goals for the upcoming season, Coach Haskell said she talked to each of the players on Monday and that every one of them talked about things like personal improvement or focus and technique.

“Not a single one of them had any goals as far as win-loss record or how they would do at state,”
Haskell said. “Every one, it was something personal.”

She credits her husband, head coach Jason, for that mindset.

“I think a lot of that is Jason’s influence,” she said. “He’s always talking about focus on what you can control; focus on your attitude, your effort, being brave out on the court.”

Haskell has a few basic goals of her own for the players.

“I’m proud of the girls,” Haskell said. “I just want them to have fun and I want them to develop as individuals.”