It’s that time of year when a group of girls can be seen at the city tennis courts rallying a bright yellow ball over a net. Head coach Scott Mills allowed the girls to attend off-season practices starting that started in December. The season got into full swing on the 28th of February. This year’s team has put in lots of hard work and is showing great potential to bring home many victories!

This will be Mills’ third-year coaching. When he heard that there was no one willing to coach tennis, it made him sad that there was the possibility that the tennis program could be shut down. He willingly and graciously stepped up and took the position. He is hoping to coach tennis for at least another ten years. All of the tennis players are beyond grateful for him!

This year there are three returning varsity players: senior Brooklyn Branstiter and juniors Karlie Jensen and Haley Weare. There are nine other returning players. This year there are sixteen new players. This is one of the biggest girls tennis teams that AHS has had in a long time. With this amount of players, it is guaranteed to be more difficult for girls to secure their spots on the varsity triangle. All of the girls will have to put in extra work. 

Mills is expecting this season to go very well. “Our returning players have improved significantly and we have a great bunch of new players to start building for the future.” The girls will be adding and dropping an opponent for this year’s schedule. The girls will no longer be traveling to McCook for duals, but will still face them in tournaments. The added opponent is Gothenburg. Gothenburg is a “new team just looking for matches and happen to be on our way to the Hastings invite.” This season is expected to be filled with lots of success. 

Weare has been playing tennis since her freshman year. She strongly believes that this season will go very well because “the team chemistry is already super strong and leaders are stepping up.” She is grateful that they will not be traveling to McCook anymore because they are a very well-rounded team with a lot of experience. “A lot of the eastern Nebraska teams have stronger players due to the fact that they practice and play year-round. We do not have the money or amount of players to be able to have the facilities that they do.” The Alliance team puts in extra work then their season comes around so that they can play at the same level as their opponents. 

The AHS tennis team will open their season with a J.V. match on March 29, at home. This will be a triangular against Gering and Scottsbluff. The first varsity match will be a dual in North Platte on April 1st. Make sure to show these girls some support! The Spud is rooting for the Lady Bulldogs!