After an 11-year drought, the Park Hill girls’ tennis team made it back to state last year and the Lady Trojans will bring back four of their top-6 from the Class 3 fourth place squad.
Park Hill was the only public school to make the trek to Columbia for the Final Four, falling to MICDS and St. Teresa’s Academy. That was the Lady Trojans’ fourth time at state in the 21st century and the first time since 2010.
“We have four of the six girls coming back from our fourth-place state team, which is pretty remarkable,” Park Hill head tennis coach Tim Kalis said. “We lost our number one who’s playing college tennis in Iowa and our number four who was undefeated last year and was our unsung hero, so it’s difficult to replace them.”
The Lady Trojans have a loaded senior class – with 17 of the 53 total players on the team being seniors – that will be led by Elizabeth Ericksen, Audrey Lynn, Katie Miller and Sydney Roberson. Those four were key pieces to rewriting history last year.
“The nice thing about that is the experience gained and the journey getting down there. We had such a great year last year and they wrote their page and left their legacy, so we have to find a way to stay excited enough to get back there,” Kalis said.
After the core four, there are multiple girls flirting at the number five and six spots which includes seniors Faith Moise and Ciara Miller. Avery Whalen and Skylar Scamman, who are both juniors, are also in that mix.
“I think for those returners bringing back those experiences and having that under their belt bodes well for them this season. I hope they can share those experiences with their teammates who weren’t in the top-6 last year,” Kalis said.
Park Hill’s Sydney Roberson is one of the four returners from the Class 3 fourth place squad in 2021.
Park Hill fell short of winning the conference last year but hopes it can do that this season in the aftermath of the Kansas City Suburban Conference being realigned. The Lady Trojans will compete with Lee’s Summit, Lee’s Summit North, Liberty, Park Hill South and Staley in the Silver Division.
“The goals remain the same in terms of a conference championship, to win a district championship and try to get to the Final Four again, even though it will be an even harder road this season. It’s going to be even more difficult because of their own expectations; as a coach it’s my job to help them get out of their own way,” Kalis said.
Mia Hamilton is looking like Park Hill’s number nine singles player, but she might be finding her way onto one of the doubles teams. With the success of last year looming over the heads of surrounding schools over the last year, Kalis said he thinks there will be a target on Park Hill’s back.
“We are Class 3 so it’s the toughest, so I think my main point is I feel like our conference, the teams in our area in our district, and in the Northland, are all well coached. There are many solid programs around so anytime you can get a win, it takes a lot of hard work to do that,” Kalis said.