The FHC girls varsity tennis team is coming off of a 5th place finish at states with a lineup full of veteran seniors last year. They graduated 6 seniors and look to have a lot of new faces in the rotation this season. Head Coach Dan Bolhouse is optimistic about the future of the program.

“This new group is not as experienced,” said Bolhouse, who spends time coaching the boys team in the fall. “They all work very hard and are extremely coachable.”

Bolhouse thinks one thing that will separate his team from others is its responsibility and willingness to improve.

“I can always count on all of them to show up to practice ready to work,” Bolhouse said.

The Rangers aren’t the only team destined for a solid season, and their region is loaded with top-tier teams. The defending state champions and state runner-ups in East Grand Rapids and Forest Hills Northern look to remain atop the region. A few of the key players from last season that will be missed include the 1 doubles pairing of Alexis Bonner and Molly Wiener. Katie Knister at 1 singles is also a tremendous loss for the Rangers. To fill in the gap at 1 singles will be senior captain Kaitlyn Fox. Another key player who will have to step up in her sophomore season is Mandy Ehrlich.

Bolhouse has a few main goals for the season that will be on the front of the players’ minds as they head into the season.

“It’s been a long time since we have beat FHN to win the conference title,” Bolhouse said. “If we play like we are capable of I think we can be in the top three in the state.”

With this young of a team, Bolhouse believes the room for improvement is great.

“With this group of girls what you see today and what you see in June will be two completely different teams,” Bolhouse said. “That’s always my goal as a coach: I want to play my best at the end of the year when it matters.”