Could brand-new, modern courts at Mount Si High School translate into more success for the Lady Wildcat tennis team? Coach Eric Hanson sure hopes so.

Hanson, who will be in his second year of coaching the Wildcats, has some solid talent in store for 2010, led by juniors Shelby Thomas and Bailey Barnard.

“We will be much improved this season,” Hanson said. “We were very young and inexperienced as individuals and a team last year.”

The Mount Si tennis facilities, which opened last fall following the end of the boys’ tennis season, are located across Meadowbrook Way from the school and replaced their longtime courts on the campus; those were demolished and replaced with portable classrooms.

Senior Michelle Whims, after some early reservations, has fallen in love with the new facility.

“At first I was like, ‘Oh, I am disappointed, I liked the tennis courts where they were.’ But now playing out here, I like it,” she said. “It’s kind of away from the school, it’s not as noisy. I like it a lot.”

“It was a great idea to invest in the tennis courts,” Whims added. “We needed them.”

Other seniors expected to make varsity include Jodie Magnuson and Kaitlyn Usselman.

Team goals

Girls’ tennis in Kingco has been dominated for several years by the likes of Bellevue and Mercer Island; that is not expected to be much different this season.

“I think that our goal should be to beat Mercer Island, and I hope that we can do that,” Whims said.

Thomas, as one of the top players, will need to be a team leader this season, and she already knows how to do this; she does this for a living.

“I work at Pine Lake Athletic Club (in Sammamish) and I teach tennis to younger kids there,” she said. By watching professionals and how they teach and interact with young players, “I’ll hopefully have a lot of input as to helping them.”

Whims took last season off from tennis and returns for her first year with coach Hanson; her previous two seasons were under former coach Sue Gallacher.

Whims, who notices a lot of differences between the two coaches, is excited about working with Hanson.

“They are very different but they both have great things to teach us,” she said. “I think that Sue (Gallacher) was much more into serving and Mr. Hanson is much more into rallying and hitting. We have a lot to learn from Mr. Hanson, and I am really looking forward to see what he has in store for us.”

Hanson hopes that all the players will learn a lot.

“Enjoy your high school experience,” he said. “Grow as an individual and team, on and off the courts. Have fun!”