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Viking Netters Want More, Titans Wide Open

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Huntersville Herald 
Vol 7, No. 35 August 29.2008
By Chris Hunt

Last season, the North Meck girls' tennis team won the MECA-7 Conference championship, finishing the season undefeated in league play.

This year the Viking netters say they can do better.

The expectations for the 2008 team are higher, even after losing half of its starting lineup, which returns three of its top six. Throw in two pretty good freshmen, however, and the Vikings think they can take the league title once again ... and perhaps achieve even more.

"Hopefully we'll (win the title) again," says Alexis Reynolds, a MECA-7 singles finalist last year. "We definitely want to be undefeated in the conference and advance in the regional tournament this year."

Following an 8-4 regular season last year, the Vikings advanced to the team state playoffs on the strength of their MECA-7 title, but fell to Northwest Guilford 6-0 in the first round. Reynolds and two North Meck doubles teams were also bounced in the first round of the individual state playoffs. This season, individual and team goals are much higher. A conference title just isn't enough, says North Meck Coach Laura Taylor.

"We always shoot higher the next season," says Taylor. "What's the point in being stagnant? We always want to go one step further each season."

To achieve their goals, the Vikings must replace two all-conference players. Senior Jessica Zamiela graduated and sophomore Shiliang Cao moved out of the area. North Meck must also find a replacement for Di Deng, who played multiple positions in the bottom three flights. She moved, too.

Still, the Vikings return plenty of talent. Joining Reynolds will be last year's No. 2 player Audrey Brown. Junior Jennifer Goto did not start in the top six last fall, but improved tremendously, says Taylor. Goto will find a home somewhere in the middle of the order. Senior Hannah Kiel, sophomore Lindsey Zamiela -- Jessica's younger sister -- and Sophia Zhang will provide depth at the fifth and sixth positions.

The key to North Meck's season, however, may rest on the play of two freshmen, Jamie Michael and Jessica Horn. That duo could make the Viking lineup tough to beat if they fulfill their potential. Although inexperienced at the varsity level, Horn was one of only two players to win a match in a 7-2 season-opening loss to a talented Lake Norman High squad on Aug. 19. She was penciled in at the No. 4 spot.

Michael has even more potential to contribute. She missed several practices and the Vikings' first match because she was out of town early in the season. Taylor says she could battle for one of the top three spots, along with Brown and Zamiela. The secret to her success, she says, is that age doesn't matter, only skill.

"Facing older players isn't intimidating," says Michael. "I am more intimidated by a good player than an older player."

The Vikings hope their new home courts will provide an intimidation factor this season. To make room for a new science building on the site of its old tennis courts, the school built eight new courts elsewhere on the campus, two of them separated by shiny, new grandstands. The new facility is a welcomed addition, and it has provided a little added incentive to the Vikings.

"It gives us some respect," says Taylor. "You definitely want to play hard on them to honor the people who spent the money to build the courts."

North Meck (0-1) hoped to break in the tennis courts in its home opener against Butler, which was scheduled for last Tuesday, but was postponed because of rain.

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