There was a time not long ago where fielding a full tennis team was a little tough for Beckley head tennis coach Bernard Bostick.
That has not been the case this year.
Not only do the Flying Eagles sport a combined boys and girls roster that exceeds 20 athletes, all but three are underclassmen.
“They go at every day. The whole atmosphere is different this year,” Bostick explained. “Last year it was more of a complacent type atmosphere. This year, everybody seems a little more hungry. I am excited about the whole season.”
Sophomore Ram Asaithambi heads up the boys squad at No. 1 seed singles followed by newcomer junior Alberto Simoncello who plays No. 2 singles.
Sophomore Ethan Shepard holds down the No. 3 singles position after playing for the first time last year.
“Alberto is the exchange student from Italy and he has been really solid so far,” Bostick said. “Ethan and Ram both spent the summer and fall playing in tournaments. Ethan’s dad played, so it is a tennis family and he loves it.”
Isaiah Lawrence rounds out the singles at No. 4, but Bostick also expects some solid contribution from Jorge Orio-Ruiz once he returns from an early season injury.
“Jorge is another exchange student who was scheduled to be a top-four singles player, but he broke his leg like a week in the season,” Bostick said. “We have never had that happen and I have never known that to happen. If it works out, we feel like he will be back and will play the minimum required games at his position. That gives us an option if somebody is not doing what they need to do.”
Asaithambi and Simoncello combine to play No. 1 doubles, while Shepard and Lawrence play No. 2 doubles.
“Three doubles will be (junior) Cam Johnson, who has played for us the last couple of years, and Tyler Radford,” Bostick said. “Tyler is a ninth grader, but he has earned that spot. Everybody really pushes everybody. We are pleased with how hungry they all are.”
Beckley may lack some experience on the girls side of the net, but the team is hardly lacking athletic talent.
Sophomore Abby Dillon advanced to the state tournament last year in her first season playing tennis and leads the girls squad.
Dillon is a standout setter on the volleyball team, a 3-point machine in basketball and if she could fit it in, she is a dynamic soccer player.
“Abby will be our No. 1 (single). She is a three-sport athlete that I am trying to talk into being a one-sport athlete. If she was, it would probably be volleyball and not tennis,” Bostick said, grinning. “Just the fact that she is our No. 1, she will get every team’s best player. That is how you get better and she embraces the challenge.”
Junior Presley Jarrell played last year and is in the No. 2 slot. Sophomores Isabella Umberger and Dalya Hasan play No. 3 and No. 4 singles respectively.
Umberger is an accomplished soccer player and Hasan drops bombs on the volleyball court.
“This is Dalya’s first year playing, but she has picked it up really well and she is very coachable,” Bostick said.
Dillon and Jarrell play No. 1 doubles, while Umberger and Dalya Hasan play No. 2 doubles.
Senior D.J. Fragile combines with Dalya’s younger sister, Anya Hasan to form Beckley’s No. 3 seed doubles team.
“D.J. is a senior-type leader that is very athletic as well, while Anya is another one of our multi-sport athletes,” Bostick said.
Rounding out the boys team with be sophomores Nick Fultz and Marco Rotellini, senior Lance Christiansen and freshmen Tristan Lockart and Sanjeeve Polisetty.
The girls include sophomore Maggie Adkins, freshmen Nicole Mourad, Reese Green and Maggie Ringwald, along with juniors Nyana Lawson, Tyle Asimoah and Charlotte Maeland.
This year, there have been some changes to the postseason tennis format. The postseason will feature a team tournament and an individual tournament.
The teams and the individual players will now be seeded with the top two teams advancing to the state tournament, while the top four overall players in the singles division will advance to Charleston as well.
“I feel like the boys have a good chance of being in the top two and the girls too if they work at it. The girls will have to get by Princeton and Greenbrier East,” Bostick said. “We are going to try and play kids in different positions to where if someone is not getting it done, we will move positions.”
