By: Keaton Koning (12)

The Grandville Boys Varsity Tennis Team has been on fire during the fall 2019 season. Coached by Tim Buck, and with senior captains Jason Li, Chase Kooienga, Ian Doyle, Caleb Sheehan, and Blake Davis all leading by example, they have been playing very well. They’ve played eight conference matches so far, and won three, with the other five being extremely close. They are looking to improve on their record so they can finish higher in the rankings for conference.

“We’ve got something special with this team this year,” Buck had to say about his players. The team is made up of mostly seniors with a total of seven of them. There is however, still a good mix of other classes in there. There are two freshmen, Jordan Kalman and Nicholas Arlen, two sophomores Carter Breuker and Max Ungrey, and also three juniors, who are all new to varsity this year. The team is coached by Tim Buck, who has been coaching the varsity team for now 30 years. Buck commented on how the team had great synergy, and they all seemed to enjoy each others company and playing together. “The season is going pretty well this season, but could be better if we all worked a little harder,” senior Chase Kooienga had to say about the team and their performance this season so far. Clearly, he believes the team’s potential to be through the roof, they simply need to work a little harder to get to that point.

When Coach Buck was asked about goals for the season, his response was a simple, “To work and get better everyday.” He went on to say he was hoping by the time regionals came around, the team would be able to compete and win it all, something he believed was very achievable. He also said he hoped to finish top two in conference. When senior captain Jason Li was asked about the goals of the season, he responded with, “Winning.” As this is Li’s last year being able to play on the team, he is hoping for himself and the team to pick up as many wins as possible before he is gone. Similarly, Chase Kooienga, another senior on the team, said his goal was to, “Win as much as possible.” Clearly, the seniors on the team have one main concern for this season, and that’s winning as much as possible.

“We’re changing things up this season. We’re making some little changes,” Coach Buck said with a mischievous smile on his face. What this means he wouldn’t say exactly, but tennis fans can expect something to be changing, whether that be the actual players on the team, or what position the players are playing. We’ll have to wait and see later this season to see what these “changes” are. Because of Buck’s obvious experience, it will certainly benefit the team whatever he decides to do.

With the tennis season wrapping up in the next couple weeks, it is the tennis team’s hope that they will be able to compete in the districts match and end with a victorious season.