Columbia Falls girls tennis has good numbers, boys not so much

The Columbia Falls girls tennis squad should have about 30 players and coach Gene Marcille has high expectations for the season.

“I‘m really excited about the tennis season, my second as head coach of the girls’ team. Michele Colliander is back as my assistant, and her expertise on tennis technique is incredibly valuable. She’s great working with kids, and I love the fact that she was a state champion for the Wildkats as a singles player and is now giving back to help this generation of Wildkats,” Marcille said.

The Kats’ top prospect is senior Emily Getts.

“Getts should have a great season. She’s a two-time conference singles champion with a great chance to repeat. At the state level, she’s arguably one of the top 3 or 4 singles players in Class A, and I’d love to see her get the chance to play Barclay Fagg from Billings Central who is the defending state champion and an outstanding player. Getts is good. Really good,” Marcille said.

Getts took fourth at state last year.

Marcille noted the team has a lot of returning players. 

“Most of my varsity is back from last year, and our team goal is to win the conference. Polson and Whitefish both bring back the majority of their teams from last season, so our conference race should be very competitive and exciting,” Marcille said. “Along with Emily, Molly Schmidt and Harley Molchan are solid singles players, while Sydney Grilley, Samantha Gilk, Morgan Stenger, Mariah Lingle, and Meghan McCallum make up our veteran doubles teams.

“I’m also expecting Kayla Nicol, Sammi Mueller, Alyssa Nelson and Brianna Kirby to compete for the few open spots we have on the varsity. We’re still working to add more junior varsity opportunities for the younger girls.”

On the boys’ side, the issue is numbers. Coach Gary Yee, in his 11th year, said that the team was down to just seven players. Now it’s up to 10.

Returning players are Brock Denny, Trevor Wick, Patrick Tillman, Dan Morgan and Caleb Fluery. No one from the squad qualified for the state tournament last year, but Yee is hopeful that Wick and Denny as a doubles team can get to state. 

The teams open the season on the road with a match against Dillon April 8th in Polson.