Trinity eying tough fall tennis schedule

Euless Trinity tennis coach Chris Yenne acknowledges his team is facing a tough fall team season.

Then again, is there any other way for a season to go when you’re in one of the toughest districts to be found? It’s nothing new for the Trojans, who went from one very challenging league to another when the University Interscholastic League announced its biennial realignment.

But Yenne welcomes the challenge. After all, one of the best ways to get better is to play the best.

“I am really looking forward to this season,” Yenne said. “The competition is going to be very strong, so our standards will have to be very high.”

The Trojans are in District 5-6A with two of the top programs in Texas, Southlake Carroll and Flower Mound Marcus. Trinity hasn’t been to the team tennis playoffs since 2013, when the Trojans reached the area tournament.

“We are going to face some very high-level competition. Flower Mound, Hebron, Byron Nelson and Lewisville are also all pretty strong, so it will be tough for Bell and Trinity,” Yenne said. “I am looking forward to it, though, because the challenge will make our kids motivated to work harder to keep pace.”

District play begins Tuesday. The Trojans return four varsity girls and four varsity boys from last season’s squad that finished fifth in fall team tennis.

Yenne noted that senior Alan Liao, the top returner, has had a solid summer. This included winning the Tyler Championship Major Zone 18s.

A big addition to the team this season is not a player, Yenne said. Miguel Roye is his new assistant coach.

“With the addition of Coach Roye, I think we are going to find eager, young kids in the community who are interested in tennis and give them the support they need to get out onto the courts playing and competing,” Yenne said. “Eventually this will grow the pool of incoming experienced players to strengthen high school tennis.

“He is going to give me an extra pair of legs on the ground to help get younger kids playing tennis year-round at the junior high schools that feed Trinity.”

Yenne said he is pleased with the work his athletes put in over the summer to help prepare themselves for the tough fall season.

“At the end of the school year, I give the kids area camp and tournament information appropriate for their level of play. Camp attendance this summer was strong, and I am pleased to report that I had more kids playing tournaments this summer than any previous summer,” he said.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Trinity eying tough fall tennis schedule."