Tennis Team Looks For Winning Season

Could this be the season that the Mehlville tennis team finally has a winning record?

The Panthers came as close as possible to doing so last season, finishing 7-8 in their dual matches.

"I have been doing this 14  years and I can't remember if we have ever had a winning record," Mehlville coach Bill Ebert said. "That is something that we would love to do this season."

The Panthers will have to do so without the services of Brett Sorum, who was the team's No. 1 player the last two years. Sorum graduated last season.

The rest of the singles lineup is intact headed by senior Jeremy Sellmeyer. Sellmeyer had a very solid season as the No. 2 singles player last season. He replaces Sorum at No. 1 singles.

"Jeremy is a baseline player who does a real good job of controlling points," Ebert said. "He has good hands and is able to keep the ball in play and lull his oppoonent to sleep."

Sellmeyer has had a good start to the season with a 3-1 record. That includes a second-place finish at the top singles flight in the Webster Groves Tournament.

Juniors Blake Penberthy and Chris Becherer also return from last year's singles lineup. Penberthy is 2-0 for the season and moves from the No. 3 to No. 2 spot in the order.

"Blake is an aggressive player who likes to attack the net," Ebert said.

Becherer, who has won three of his first four matches, provides the Panthers with a very competitive top three as he moves up from No. 4 to No. 3.

Senior Stephen Burger, who played doubles last year, rounds out the singles lineup at No. 4.

Mehlville should be competitive in singles with most of the teams on its schedule. But doubles play is vital to a team's success and that is the team's biggest question mark.

Seniors Jacob Vantrease and Luke Suntrup, juniors Tony Dees and Almir Sefic and freshman Robert Sieckhaus are all in the mix for possible doubles players.

"At this point we don't have a set doubles lineup," Ebert said. "That is an area where we need to improve."

Mehlville won its first two dual matches of the season, recording wins against Festus and Lutheran South.

The Panthers finished fourth in the four-team tournament last week at Webster which included the host Statesmen as well as Oakville and Rockwood Summit.

"In a sense, we are starting over without Brett in the lineup," Ebert said. "But we do have some experienced players. We would love to get at least eight wins and place well in the conference tournament."