Girls Tennis: Shorewood Boasts Veteran Experience

Veteran leadership is valued across all sports. Experience can help a team overcome bumps in the road, stretches of inconsistency and the tough losses that almost any team endures.

The Shorewood girls tennis team has that valued experience in spades.

Led by nine seniors, the Thunderbirds are one of, if not the most, experienced squads in the WesCo conference. That stock of veteran leadership, along with some impressive underclassmen, has Shorewood ready to make a deep postseason run.

"Realistically, we should be either first or second [in conference]," Head Coach Arnie Moreno said.

Senior MacKenzie Bang leads the team on the singles side. Bang is a three-time state qualifier and defending WesCo 4A South singles champion (Shorewood moved to the 3A division follwing the 2010 season), who is expected to make a run towards a strong state finish in 2011.

"I think that she's got to be one of the heavy favorites [to take the top spot in districts]," Moreno, who is in his 12th year with the team, said

Following Bang in the singles department is sophomore Francesca O'Malley, followed by senior Sarah Oh and freshman Daniella Brengelmann. While the other three singles players have established resumes, Brengelmann has been a welcome suprrise for the T-Birds.

"After her first varsity match, she was a a little nervous, she lost, she's come back real strong," Moreno said. "I really feel like she's going to be a real contributor in our singles lineup and possibly, going down the line in districts, if she matches up well with somebody for doubles, she could possibly get into a state slot for doubles."

And while the senior leadership is the strength of the T-Birds team, a group of freshman and sophomores has given Shorewood a nice balanced attack that features up-and-comers and experienced players.

"It's a good mixture, I kind of like the chemistry we have with the team," Moreno said. "The nine seniors offer really good leadership and experience, but we've got a good mixture...I really feel like the players underneath are really going to provide us with a real solid base for next year."

Shorewood is off to a 3-3 start overall, 3-0 in the WesCo 3A conference. Moreno's group has been slowed by a slew of illnesses in the early going, but he thinks the group will be around the top come the end of the season.

"We're getting off to a little bit of a slow start," Moreno said. "But I think we're still going to be pretty competitive as far as one of the top three teams."