Bridgeport High School left the West Virginia Class A-AA tennis tournament in Charleston with not a single win, but Coach Dan Oliveto said he is certainly proud of his players.

 

“I have to hand it to all players who made it to states, just coming out of region with game delays and heading to states with more rain delays. But all the kids had to go through it. It’s survival of the fittest when you get to those kinds of things,” he said. “They have to survive through longs waits for their matches and sitting and things, but they were all doing it, and I’m happy with what our kids have done.”

 

Advancing to states from the Region II tournament were Taylor Abraham and Olivio Rush - line one and line three singles, respectively – and Rush and Eleanor Noone in line two doubles.

 

Abraham lost in the semifinals to Charleston Catholic, Rush lost in the semis to Winfield and the team of Rush and Noone also lost to Winfield in semifinal action.

 

“They all played well,” Oliveto said. “They come across much tougher competition at states and they know that.”

 

Both boys and girls ended their season quite favorably; the girls standing at 16-1 and the boys at 12-4.

 

Oliveto said he will miss his graduating seniors, but also looks forward to a good 2018 season.

 

“Taylor, Olivia and Anna have been with us all four years and they’ve done well, but we have other girls coming up – sophomores and freshmen and juniors Rachel Lamm, Ashton Miller and Caroline Furby, who will all be returning to the lineup next year,” he said.

All starters on the boys’ side will be returning next season.

 

“This year, our only returning starter was (junior) Grant Duvall. We had (junior) Andrew Barlow too, but he had mainly played exhibition before this year,” Oliveto said. “The rest of them – mostly juniors – were new and jumped right in there and did well.”

 

Oliveto said he would have liked to have seen that group including Ben Holbert, Tanner Cava and Brent Sinsel included in the roster their freshman and/or sophomore years to build experience.

 

“Of course, two years ago we had some state champions and state runners-up the next year, so those positions would have been tough to fill,” he said.

 

But with their feet wet, the group of boys should be ready for the 2018 season and Oliveto said he looks forward to it.

 

As for this year, there were tennis victories and important experience gained. And though the post-season brought some heartache and indecision - as regionals were rain delayed and ultimately conflicting with the BHS junior/senior prom - there were also important lessons built into the season, Oliveto said.

 

“There were some life lessons there,” he said. “Every year, parents and families have supported the tennis program, helped out – and they understand. They like to win, too, but when it doesn’t happen, there are other responsibilities and kids at this age have to think about that too. It was good.”

 

Read more about regionals and the dilemma faced by Tribe tennis members HERE.