WORTON — Kent County High School’s tennis season gets underway in earnest tomorrow at home against Cambridge-South Dorchester.
The Trojans traveled to The Gunston School in Centreville last week for a practice match after the scheduled season opener on March 21 was postponed because of rain and high winds.
Tyray Johnson and Chanelle Copper return as the head coaches at alma mater KCHS.
With six returnees, Kent County’s boys have an experienced squad led by 2024 MVP Sebastien Cousineau, Teo O’Brien, Bjorn Birkmire and Robert Hague at first, second, third and fourth singles, respectively.
“We should be very competitive, and I think we have a pretty good shot this year of winning regionals,” Johnson said.
It’s a youthful team, though, with O’Brien and Hague as the only seniors.
The other returning players are junior Chris Gonzales and sophomore Ben Hinton.
The newcomers are sophomores Owen Hyland, Eamon Lindsay and Jayden Miller.
It’s a similar story for Kent County’s girls, who return their top two players in senior Nina Fahrman and sophomore Sophie Cousineau and have 10 underclassmen on a roster of 14.
The first challenge for coach Copper was who to keep after 20 prospective players turned out for the first day of practice.
There are four seniors — Fahrman, a region champion in singles and doubles, Sarah Vujanic, Sophia Santos and international student Misha Rau, who is spending the entire 2024-25 academic year at KCHS.
Half a dozen players have at least one year of high school experience. They include junior Jordanna Capp and sophomore Maggie Bilbrough, in addition to reigning team MVP Fahrman, Cousineau, Vujanic and Santos.
The first-year players are freshmen Zye’onnie Ward, Emelia Karlick and Brenna Thorpe; sophomores Aria Jones and Me’an Tanjapatkul, also an international student; and juniors Maddie Dickerson and Chastity Jones.
“These ladies are eager to learn and play,” coach Copper told The Evening Enterprise. “I’m excited for the season.”
In their scrimmage March 26 at Gunston, Fahrman and Cousineau won at first and second singles, respectively, and partnered for a win at first doubles. Also, Jones won an exhibition match in singles.
“Everyone played well,” Copper wrote in a text message. “Still a lot to learn,” she said, “but this team is eager to learn and make those improvements.”
KCHS has three matches this week — Tuesday, April 1 at home against Cambridge, Wednesday at home against St. Michaels and Friday at Colonel Richardson. All matches begin at 4 p.m.
