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| MVP Megan Stivers (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
But when all was said and done, Olwell had nothing but positive things to say about his team's 5-10 fall campaign that saw several young players play prominent roles.
"We had a tremendous season considering where we have been trending and particularly considering all the losses from last year's team," Olwell said. "This was a kind of coming out party for Tiger tennis as our kiddie corps led the charge.
"We were in almost every match, competed to the end against everyone, and had remarkable senior leadership."
All in all, 15 players earned varsity letters for their efforts, including six seniors: Elizabeth Adams, Sydney Guenther, Heather Kelzenberg, Rachel Rees, Natasha Sinha and ShyAnne Spurzem.
Underclassmen players receiving letters included junior Megan Stivers; sophomore Alyson Kelly; freshmen Elizabeth Fairchild, Lindsey Fairchild, Jessica Novotny, Callie Olmscheid, Claire Padrnos and Molly Rudorfer and eighth-grader Ryan Jara.
Stivers, the team's Most Valuable Player, received all-Missota Conference honorable mention. Olmscheid, who complied a team-best 12-6 individual record, received the Player of the Year award while Jara took home the Tiger Award at the team's post-season banquet.
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| Player of the Year Callie Olmscheid (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Olwell said the season just completed was chock full of highlights, pointing to the increase in dual meet wins; the championship effort at the Mound Doubles Invitational; five players posting winning records and the first-ever win over perennial post-season power Red Wing.
"The 15 letterwinners we had this year was also a record number," he said.
Olwell said the only real disappointment was a handful of losses than could have just as easily been entries in the win column and a slight drop in the overall participation numbers.
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| Tiger Award winner Ryan Jara |
"The future looks bright," he said. "If they all hit the courts this winter and next summer we should be very strong next year."
