Maryfield looks to rebuild Wolverine tennis program

SWITZ CITY -- Roger Maryfield has had a plan for awhile and now his vision has become a reality as he is the new boys tennis coach at White River Valley. Now the new Wolverines coach has a new plan -- restore the tennis program.

"I have known that I wanted to coach, I had a plan," Maryfield said. "The plan was to land a coaching job after my kids graduated high school. So I put in some inquiries this past summer and here I am now."

The new coach, who looks up to veteran Bloomfield coach Mike Canty as a mentor, knows he has his work cut out for him at WRV. The first day of school, Maryfield only has six guys out for the team. To field a full varsity team -- three singles players and two doubles team -- takes seven players.

"I plan on being here for a long time," Maryfield claimed. "Eventually I would like to win a sectional...want to get to the level that coach Canty has over at Bloomfield.

"But it's going to take some time and it starts with the younger kids. Just like any successful team you need a good feeder system. Hopefully running some summer camps can get some more kids interested in the sport and possibly get a junior high program started."

As for now Maryfield is ready to get work on the confidence level of the six kids he has on the team, starting with his No. 1 singles player Derek Myers.

"Derek played No. 2 singles last year and he will move to No. 1 this year," Maryfield said. "He hits the ball with good top spin and has a good hard first serve.

"He has a good knowledge for the game. He just needs to work on his consistency and minimize the errors."

Projected at the No. 2 singles court will be 6-foot-8-inch junior, Austin Roudebush. The junior, who Maryfield said is the team captain, played at doubles last season.

"Austin is big and moves well for his size," the new head coach said. "He has a lot of athleticism and has a good first serve and good ground strokes. He came to me and said that he wanted to give singles out a try this year. He just needs a little more work on his footwork."

Competing for the No. 3 singles spot will be sophomores Garrett Miller and Adam Sapp.

"Adam is probably the most athletic kid we have on the team," Maryfield said. "He is probably best at the net, but he needs to learn to use his athleticism to his benefit more."

Miller is the lone lefty on the team.

"Garrett has a nice forehand, but needs a little more attention on his backhand," Maryfield said.

Ricky Anderson is another sophomore on the roster and will most likely being playing at the doubles court once again this season.

"Ricky along with Derek, is our most dedicated player we have," Maryfield said. "He is at every practice and workout and always is one of the last ones to leave. He can be as good as he wants to be."

Cody Fiscus rounds out the roster for the Wolverines. He also played doubles last season.

The Wolverines won just one match last season. Maryfield is hoping to improve on that number.

"It would be nice to win a few more matches," he said. "But our main goal is to get better with each match, learn from our mistakes, have fun and get this program heading back in the right direction."

WRV will open their season with a home match against Washington Catholic on Monday. Their match against Northeast Dubois scheduled for Saturday, August 22 has been postponed and matches against North Daviess on August 26 and at Barr-Reeve on September 11 have been changed to September 9 and September 15 respectively.

White River Valley

Boys Tennis Roster

Coach: Roger Maryfield