Bell tennis not expecting smooth sailing

The Hurst L.D. Bell tennis team’s motto for this season is, “A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.”

That said, coach Stefanie Rivera is counting on the leadership of five returning varsity players to make sure it’s not too stormy a season for the Blue Raiders. The team returns two varsity boys and three varsity girls, including girls regional qualifier Taylor Jackson, a senior. Other top returners include junior Mitchell McNamee and sophomore Landry Piccone among the boys.

And while Bell is not known as a powerhouse program, Rivera said they will come to each match prepared to give each opponent all they can handle. A major part of this process is how the team prepares itself for the fall with what they do in the summer.

“I expect players to play a lot of tennis through drills, camps and tournaments,” Rivera said. “In doing so, they will also be acclimated to the heat, which is very important.”

Bell finished sixth in a tough District 7-6A last season. This season the Blue Raiders are competing in another tough league, District 5-6A, with rival Euless Trinity, along with Southlake Carroll, Lewisville Hebron, Lewisville, Flower Mound Marcus, Flower Mound and Trophy Club Nelson.

“We are in a tough district over the next two years, but we have always been in a challenging district,” Rivera said. “My players know they are going to have to work very hard day in and day out to be prepared for district, and they definitely have put in the work and even put in some 6:30 a.m. practices.”

Rivera said there are also some players from the subvarsity who could make an impact on the varsity this season.

“I have a lot of players that have put in their time with JV and have really improved,” she said.

Rivera said on the boys side such players include Carlos Fuller, Alex Brannan, Jack Alcorn, Danny Vu and Miles Dodd. For the girls, the list includes Dara Saa and Erin Millican.

The Raiders began the season with four opponents on the road in a pair of dual matches. They dropped matches to Saginaw and Chisholm Trail, narrowly falling to Saginaw. They fell to Irving Nimitz but defeated Irving MacArthur in a pair of matches played in Irving.

They recently played their first home match against Denton. Their first district match sent them back on the road to Flower Mound Marcus after press time.

The match against Trinity will be an away contest on Sept. 20.

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Bell tennis not expecting smooth sailing."