“Rain is a good thing,” Luke Bryan sang. For the Gretna boys tennis team, the ones who made it to state this year, seemed to agree with that statement.
“I lost my first round match,” sophomore Owen Dickes said. “But it was a cool experience because we had to play inside due to the rain.”
These players normally play on outdoor courts, even on big occasions, such as state. This year, the weather in mid October had a different idea. Due to downpours, the state tennis championship took place inside the Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln.
“My favorite moment this year was my match at state,” junior Emmitt Dickes said. “We were playing indoors and all the fans were on the balcony above us, so it felt like we were playing in a stadium.”
New opportunities and new places to play were common for the team. This year has held different experiences than in the past.
“Overall, the guys played hard and there was no doubt that they gave it all they had. We played some very good teams right off the bat,” head coach Noah Bernal said. “I hope this year will make them see how successful they can be in the future if they work hard in the off-season.”
There was no state title for the Gretna boys tennis team, but, as the coach said, there was significant competition to face at the start, which challenged their skills and even the mentality these players hold. The Dragons made it a couple days in, but the boys’ state experience came to an end.
This year’s team made it a good way into the tournament despite the challenges they faced compared to other schools. The team was cut in half compared with last year, and most of the people that would have been varsity at GHS were now varsity at GEHS. Not only that, but there was only one coach to lead the program.
“A lot has changed since last year,” Coach Bernal said. “We graduated all of varsity from last year, so that transition has been hard. We also missed Coach Kohles and the value that he brought to our team”.
It has taken a lot of hard work from not only the players this year but the coach. Most of the season only one coach ran the whole program, unlike many other sports at Gretna that have quite a few coaches for some similar sized teams.
“This year we started with just Coach Noah Bernal, and then a little later our assistant coach, Jill Bernal, Noah’s mom, joined to help him out,” sophomore Carter Cerny said.
