When a varsity tennis team features four freshmen, sometimes a senior captain is forced to focus on tedious details.
Rolling Meadows senior captain Sahil Shah plays on the Mustangs’ top doubles team, and prior to the April 1 home-opening quad, he wanted to make sure those freshmen were prepared.
“I sent them a list (the previous night) of the things to bring (April 1), like sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, extra pants, extra shorts — everything I could think of,” Shah said. “As a captain, I want us all to have fun because that’s what it’s about, but I also have to help us keep things together.”
It’s a transition year at Rolling Meadows, and Mustangs coach Gary Brodnan will be patient as freshmen Ryan McCoy, Nate Morgan, Ryan Snyder, and Brian Behrens acclimate to higher-level competition.
Shah and senior Jack Piscitello will play No. 1 doubles together, but the Mustangs will look to McCoy to fill the No. 1 singles position this year.
Last year, Mack Galvin placed fourth at state and now plays tennis for Air Force. Galvin was also the team’s No. 1 singles player as a freshman.
“It’s not common,” Shah said. “But I’ve known (McCoy) for about three years and I work at our summer camp, so I knew about him and we were already putting test lineups together over the summer.”
One of the elements of varsity tennis that McCoy is negotiating involves the embrace of an even-keeled demeanor.
“Where (Morgan) is a more level-headed guy, Ryan will get frustrated sometimes,” Shah said. “But it’s not easy. It’s something you have to learn.”
McCoy knows that his on-court temperament is a work in progress.
“I explode every once in a while,” McCoy said. “My first (varsity) singles match was against a senior, but you can beat the biggest, strongest kid on the team if you can manage to out-smart him, and I just need to stay in control.”
Morgan is vying for a spot on the second or third doubles team, Snyder will likely play fourth doubles, and Behrens will play second singles and/or second or third doubles.
“Ryan is our best player, Nate is better than he looks, and Ryan Snyder and Brian Behrens are going to be important parts of the program,” Brodnan said. “That’s the nucleus of us this year. We’re young and inexperienced. But over the next two or three years, they’ll be good. There are a couple of good freshmen coming in next year, too.”
Brodnan is happy to be getting a hand from Shah in helping his freshmen acclimate to the varsity level.
“He’s a very bright kid with about a 34 ACT score, going to the University of Illinois to study engineering,” Brodnan said. “He’s the kind of kid that wants everyone to have a good experience, and he provides a lot of support and leadership to the younger kids. He really took on the responsibility himself.”
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Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press