Lady Eagles hopeful for strong season

Following three consecutive first-place finishes in the Division I-A Sunrise conference, the Lady Eagles tennis team is hopeful to continue its stretch of dominance despite an inexperienced roster.

"We're looking forward to another great year for the girls this year," Boulder City girls tennis head coach Katy Nash said. "Our goal is to advance to team regionals this year again and continue with a strong season. Looking forward to another good year for the girls."

Last season, Boulder City finished with a 9-2 overall record and a perfect 7-0 conference record.

Featuring a roster of seven girls this season, the Lady Eagles have key building blocks returning in singles and doubles competition to propel Boulder City toward another postseason berth.

In singles competition, Boulder City returns junior Natalia Fullmer, who proved to be one of the Eagles' top competitors last season. Despite falling to eventual state champion Faith Lutheran 4-14 last season as a team, Fullmer offered the Lady Eagles a lone bright spot when she managed to pull out a singles victory of 2-1. Also pulling out 3-0 victories against Moapa Valley, Chaparral and Del Sol last season, Fullmer should be ready to shoulder the load for the team this season.

In doubles competition, the duo of juniors McKenna Frazier and Kyra Yamamoto returns after a strong sophomore campaign together. Picking up a 3-0 victory over Sierra Vista last season during the Lady Eagles' Division I-A Southern Regional quarterfinals match-up, the duo picked up valuable experience that should translate to wins this season. Also picking up victories over Sunrise Mountain and Chaparral, the duo should be ready to breakout as one of the conference's top pairs.

Fullmer also is an experienced doubles player but will need to find an adequate partner after the graduation of Iris Meijer. Together the duo put together three 3-0 victories last season against Virgin Valley, Sunrise Mountain and Del Sol.

Boys tennis

While the girls have already established a Division I-A dominance, the boys varsity tennis team is looking to start its, behind a team laden with sophomore talent.

"We have a lot of talent on this year's roster," said Boulder City girls tennis head coach Katy Nash, who will be assisting first-year head coach Rodney Ball this season. "This group is full of potential. They have a chance to do great things in the future."

Leading the way for the Eagles, who look to rebound off of last season's sixth-place finish in the Division I-A Sunrise standings with a record of 2-7, will be returning letter winner sophomore Andre Pappas, who is expected to be Boulder City's No. 1 in singles competition.

After picking up six victories last season: 3-0 against Del Sol, Chaparral, Desert Pines and Virgin Valley and 2-1 against Sierra Vista and Moapa Valley, Pappas not only expects big things out of himself, but the Eagles as a whole this season.

"We should be much improved, compared to last season," Pappas said. "I expect us to finish somewhere near the top in our conference, with the returners and new pieces we have this season collectively."

Of the new pieces joining the Eagles this season, sophomores Sam O'Berto and Pedro Velarde, a foreign exchange student from Spain, should get the starting nods in single competition.

In doubles competition, sophomores Clayton Pendleton, Adam Clary and Garret Leavitt should lead the way in the Eagles' back three, with Clary, who's the lone returner of the trio, also having the potential to be a singles competitor as well.

We have a lot of new faces on the courts with our returning boys," Nash added. "We're looking forward to having a great season, with our goal to get our boys to advance in the team regionals."

Both the girls and boys will open their seasons up on the road at Del Sol at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.