The Park Hill South girls’ tennis team is relying on senior Vivien Hamilton and junior Hana Bytyqi this fall.
Park Hill South senior Vivien Hamilton has the potential to be the Lady Panthers top player this fall.
After graduating 15 of their top-20 from last season, the Lady Panthers won’t have a ton of varsity experience coming back. Hamilton was Park Hill South’s number one last year and Bytyqi was number four.
“At the top of the varsity, it’s pretty clear with our number one girl and our number three coming back,” Park Hill South head girls’ coach Ian Cunliff said. “Vivien is definitely stepping up as a leader right now.”
Hamilton made it to state last fall in the doubles with Sydney Dial, who has since graduated, when they finished in eighth place. The road back to state will be tough for Park Hill South this year.
“It’ll take a lot of work and a little luck. We have a number of girls who are not year-round players, so they’re going to have to work hard early on in the season going into competitive play,” Cunliff said.
The Lady Panthers will have all new doubles teams this fall. Cunliff said they’re still testing the water to see what duos work better than others.
“As far as doubles teams, it’s hard to tell but, overall, we have good chemistry. We have a lot of nice girls who enjoy being around each other,” Cunliff said.
The Lady Panthers will kick off the season with a road match against Lee’s Summit West on August 30. Cunliff told the Platte County Citizen what his goals are on the season.
“We’d like to get an individual or doubles team to state; then for them to be an all-state doubles team or an all-state singles player,” Cunliff said.