Smoky Valley girls’ tennis team finished their season at state with their doubles teams both qualifying for the competition. The doubles team of Kayla Norberg and Lily Heline returned to state for their second year in a row, and they finished the season out with a state medal. The doubles team of Kelsee Adam and Kaityln Leis also competed at state this year.
In addition to the doubles teams, the single’s team members were Jill Hett and Madelyn Mauk. Completing his third year as head coach, Vince Warbinton shared with VYPE Magazine what the team needed to be successful this year. “We had to have buy-in from our new varsity players. They needed to understand how difficult it was to play varsity tennis, day-in and day-out.”
Smoky Valley survived a tough schedule this year during their season. “We went to Hesston three times, Ellsworth twice, and hosted two tournaments. Throw in our league tournament and we saw a great deal of fantastic tennis,” shared Coach Warbinton. In addition to the tough schedule, the team competed against several state finalists and semifinalists throughout the season.
The girls finished the season successful and Coach Warbinton was happy with how the season progressed for his players. Some additional highlights from the season were the number one doubles team of Norberg and Heline winning the CKL title. Kayla Norberg won this league title for three years in a row. “Kayla was a three-year varsity player and to say you won your spot in league all three years is something special,” shared Coach Warbinton.
