Sandpoint tennis returns familiar faces for 2022 campaign

Last year, Sandpoint tennis claimed all regional titles for the first time since 2016.

Most of its core is back for another go around in 2022.

Kent Anderson, who’s entering his 13th year as the Sandpoint tennis coach, won’t have to adjust his lineup too much this year, especially on the girls side.

On the boys side, Josh Embree and Christian Story, who were district champions, graduated last year.

So, the boys will have some rearranging to do in 2022.

Neva Reseska earned a state berth as a freshman in 2021 and will be the number two singles player entering her sophomore year.

Anderson noted that Reseska improved every time she stepped on the court last year.

“She’s just such a great athlete,” Anderson said. “I expect her to be a district champion this year.”

Olivia Petruso and Denali Terry, the number one girls pairing, will also be back in 2022.

Petruso and Terry had a fantastic 2021 campaign, reigning as the number one doubles team in 4A District I-II all season.

The two capped off the year by cruising to a district championship. The dynamic duo is looking to run it back a second time in 2022.

“They play together extremely well,” Anderson said. “(Denali) Terry has some weapons and she’s tough when the ball comes in. (Olivia) Petruso is extremely consistent; they’ll be great their senior year.”

Maise Brazill was one match away from the state tournament last year and will be back in an attempt to reach the end of the year tournament in 2022.

She fell to Reska in the district championship last year.

“She’s been playing all winter to get better,” Anderson said. “She should qualify for state. We’ll have some weapons.”

Cayden Kindred sat out last year but will be back in 2022 as the number one boys singles player.

“He’s a great athlete who's strong and tall,” Anderson said. “Even after a year off he has a really good chance at being a district champion.”

Evan Wiley will be slotted in as the number two boys singles player.

Wiley was on junior varsity a year ago and won a tournament which included mostly 4A and 5A players.

Owen Larson, who was on the Bulldogs junior varsity basketball team, will be the number three singles player along with being a part of the number one doubles team. His athletic ability is his biggest strength according to Anderson.

“He’s got some big strokes and big serves,” Anderson said. “I expect big things from him; he’ll be playing doubles with Tyler Korn.”

Korn went undefeated last year up until his final match of the regular season.

Korn went on a losing streak that carried over to districts, but Anderson is confident that he will be back with a vengeance.

“It was all just a learning experience; he’ll be a force this year,” Anderson said. “ (Owen) Larson and (Tyler) Korn together will be a force.”

More to come - Even though Sandpoint had swept districts, it only took seven athletes to the state tournament, which was a low number, according to Anderson.

“I always expect to send 11 or 12,” Anderson said. “I think we’ll be back to that.”

Anderson expected big things from his girls team a year ago and he expects that they will ride the momentum from last year.

“I knew the girls were going to be tough and the guys were going to be good,” Anderson said. “Not sending a singles player to state hurt our overall numbers, but after a year of experience we’ll be back.”

Snow needs to go: The biggest adjustment for Sandpoint tennis has been the amount of time its spent in the gym getting ready for the upcoming season.

The ice on the court has made it impossible for the Bulldogs to practice outside.

“We practice in the gym and unbelievably the last two years we’ve started outside,” Anderson said. “Now it’s back to old time Sandpoint and we got back into the gym.”

The athletes have time to work on technique and the right strokes, but Anderson noted that too much time in the gym can lead to a slow start..

“We usually will start the season with one foot in the bucket,” Anderson said. “But once we start going, we typically get on fire and get things figured out.”