Covenant Christian High School

Despite the challenges, God is faithful and the tennis team wants to strive to give Him the glory. The Warriors 1 singles player from last year graduated, 2 singles transferred to another school, and few of varsity doubles players will be unavailable for most of the season because of injury or commitments to other activities. Fortunately, we’ve gained some seniors: Cooper Wood returns his senior season and was 1 singles his sophomore year. Senior Mark Crane and junior cousin Isaac Crane have joined the team and will play varsity doubles. Other seniors include Nolan Guzman and John Bird who both played varsity doubles last year. In addition to Cooper Wood, varsity singles players include freshmen Max Carter, sophomore Brandon Hilliard, juniors Conor Cross and Zach Malek. Three other exciting freshmen joined the team this year: Qi Marcum, Tor Pedersen and Luke Huffman. They are all starting out with tennis skills and experience. Coach Sean Bird expects to have a winning record for the JV squad, and he hopes to improve from last season’s varsity 9-9 record. “We had a close victory to bring back the sectional title last year and if we can stay healthy we may be able to continue the streak with end-of-season wins over Ritter, Speedway, Tri-West and Ben Davis,” said Coach Bird. The excellent care and instruction from Coach Bird and his coaching staff make these goals very attainable. The staff also includes Ruth Gaston (‘15) and Joseph Bird (‘21). “You can really improve from year to year by getting experience during the off season. Great job to several of the players for getting ready for the season by coming to open courts and doing other things,” Coach Bird commented. Other top JV players juniors Cooper Shields, Eli Kegeris, Korey Howell, Ty Thomas, Clark Murray, Brooks Murray and Ryne Davis. Besides Ethan McComb and Luke Moneymaker, our other sophomores are new to the team: Barrett Beyers, Thomas Manley, Oliver Page, and Joaquin Thomas. Tennis is a mental game of strength and control. Coach Bird prays that the challenges of the season will bear fruit in growing these boys into young men of integrity, sportsmanship, responsibility, maturity as they are filled with joy and seek to glorify God with their talents and efforts. The team’s theme verse for the season is Psalm 115:1: “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” The Warriors open the season today (Aug. 17) at home against Decatur Central. Come out and support your Covenant Warrior tennis team as they embark on another exciting season!