Tennis is one of the most fun recreational sports played today, but for some students at Wilsonville, it means more than that. The people who play competitively on the tennis team are already looking ahead to league matches, districts, and state. And they intend to win. 

Kayden ‘Queezy’ Marquis has been playing tennis for all 4 years he’s been in high school. The senior wants to improve to the ranks of the top 5 pairs on the Wilsonville team so he can play in state doubles. His partner is fellow senior, George Heilig. “Last year we were really close to winning state, so hopefully this year we can finish the job and take home a title. I’d really love to be one of the guys who gets to play a match at state, that’s my personal goal.” Marquis says his favorite part of tennis is “getting a really long rally. It’s really satisfying and entertaining, and you really start to feel that game flow.”

“Most of all, we just wanna lock up our league again this year.” Jack Miller, a junior, says this season to him is about continuing the success Wildcat tennis had last year, setting the culture. “We get to districts with good seedings, we win league again, then we go to state and we look to really compete there.” Miller said his mission this season is to keep having fun with the sport, while also finding success on the court. When asked about his opinions on the team’s strength and their ability to compete on the biggest stage, Miller stated that “We lost some big names, but we got big names coming in. We can’t reminisce on who we lost, we gotta work with who we got. We’re still a strong team and we’ll be able to be competitive at state this year.”

Jack’s doubles partner, Theo Butchwald, senior, mirrored many of Mr. Miller’s sentiments. “The season is going really well right now. We’re gonna do really well at districts, really well at state, we’re all very excited to compete. I’m really looking forward to our Bend trip, that’s gonna be a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to playing with my boy Jack.” His personal goals for this season are “to go far in districts. Last year I didn’t go so far, but this year I feel like I can make a really deep run and go much further.”

Everyone seems to be having fun with tennis this season, expectations are high and they have a lot to look forward to. For the students on this team, they want to compete, fight, and win. By all accounts, they look strong enough to win districts, and maybe even state. If there’s one thing we can be certain about, it’s that Marquis, Miller, Butchwald, and all their teammates will give it their all to accomplish those goals.