By Liam Lyons ‘22

Tennis is soon coming to a high school near you! In this case it’s Brother Rice, but you know I wanted to try something promotional.

The Crusader tennis team has been on the rise over the last few years. Ever since the departure of longtime coach and teacher, Mr. Grogan, the Crusaders have been under a new regime. Led by coaches Mr. Rob Vogt and Mr. Brendan Coughlan, Crusader tennis looks better than ever.

I caught up with Coach Vogt about this upcoming season: “I am very excited about this year’s team. Overall, we’re going to be pretty young. To start the season, we could start as many as five freshmen. The good news is that senior captains Colin Clisham and Dustin Hahn bring a great deal of leadership to the table. Junior Morgan Riste returns after winning the CCL consolation bracket championship at #2 doubles last year. Our team goals are to finish as high as possible in the CCL and to qualify one or more players for the IHSA state tournament.”

Tennis has actually gained a major following on social media, with tennis’s Twitter growing within the Brother Rice community.

Senior captain Dustin Hahn kept it short and sweet when it came to what he had to say about the team: “As Coach Vogt says, the best ability in a player is availability.”

That quote will definitely remain true as tennis is one of the youngest sports teams at Rice. I have a lot of faith in this young tennis team based on how they proved themselves last year.

Colin Clisham ’22, also a senior captain, said, “Sure we are going to be a young group, but this team is dedicated and if we keep working great things will come.”

The season is soon approaching, and I don’t know about you guys, but I may have to join up with the tennis scout team.

In all seriousness, come summer time, don’t be surprised if you hear about some tennis state qualifiers.