Marvin Ridge boys tennis team wins first 4A championship
MARVIN, N.C., — We had the opportunity to get to learn more about the Marvin Ridge High School men’s tennis team, led by Head Coach Kyle Williams and Assistant Coach, Tom Traub.
One exciting part of this season was that it was the team’s first year competing in 4A. And despite this, they had lofty goals this season, and they managed to pull through. This was the second time in school history they have won back to back championships, but the first time at the 4A level.
In regard to this success, Williams says, “We fed off the success from last year. Having such a talented team and knowing how rare it is to get a dual team title really made the guys focus and play their best when it counted. At the end of the day, you have to go out there and compete, and that is what we did every week.”
Williams continued, “Our team relied heavily on our consistent doubles play, where we returned our top two doubles lines from last year that made finals and quarterfinals at the individual state tournament. The depth in our roster contributed to the 80% win rate for the entirety of the season, while playing some of the top teams in the state. Our goal is to challenge our kids and give them the opportunity to be the best that they can be. Rather than playing an easy schedule and securing a higher seed, we strive to find more competitive matches during the season even if that penalizes us when the seeding process begins.”
When it comes to the vital parts of the team’s success, Williams explained that winning tennis dual matches is about creating match up problems for your opponents. He states, “We’ve done that pretty well across just about every line, including the doubles. Some teams may have a couple players that are better than ours but when you start going line by line, our depth and doubles skills end up prevailing.”
Reminiscing on the past season, I asked Williams about his team dynamic, and if they had any pre game rituals or traditions. He explained, “Our team has a prayer at the beginning of every match that progressively gets louder. That sets the tone for our matches.”
He went on to explain that the team is “very vocal during the matches in support of each other. This may irritate some opponents, but at the end of the day it is how we pump each other up. And honestly, opposing teams that aren’t mentally strong may lose their competitive edge from our aggressive nature!”
And when it comes to post game traditions, Williams explained to me that the team continues in their competitive nature and enjoys celebrating wins by playing volleyball or spike ball. Oh, and we can’t forget, Chick Fil A and Jersey Mikes…those are also a post-game favorite for the team!
Whether they’re celebrating a win or reflecting on a loss, the team remains strong. Williams explained to me that the decision to play high school tennis is often a tough one for high level tournament players. “These players have other options such as USTA and UTR events and there is a perception out there that players will regress when they play high school tennis.”
However, one thing that the MRHS Men’s Tennis Team is incredibly proud of is the level of professionality that the program provides to its players.
Williams explains, “At Marvin Ridge we run a very professional program. We focus on drills and stipulated play to make each player better, and that makes us better as a team. We don’t run cookie cutter drills, like most coaches, and we also use video analysis of matches and practices to improve technical and tactical aspects of every player.”
In regard to choosing whether or not to play at the high school level, Williams says, “Players that want to play at the next level in college absolutely should absolutely play High School Tennis. The match pressure when you are playing for a team in front of teammates and family is very much different from a USTA tournament. These athletes need to experience that before they start getting recruited. Also, the experience of winning a state title in high school may very well trump the college tennis experience in many cases.”
In looking ahead to the upcoming season, I asked Williams what the team’s goals are, and he explained, “Winning the state title again only solidifies the professional structure that we put into our culture. This helps get the buy-in from every athlete that this is a year round sport and that to continue with this success, we must get back on the court and start training this summer.”
Thank you to Kyle WIlliams for sharing his team’s story with us! Congratulations to the MRHS Men’s Tennis Team on their success this past season. Best of luck next season!
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