When the season was put on hold a year ago, Mexico tennis coach Tony Senor had high expectations. He still has them going into the 2021 schedule.

“The goal is to win conference,” he said.

Last year the Bulldogs would have leaned on the experience of eight seniors. This time around, the team can count of a strong top six, none of whom were shaken by the shutdown.

“We kept up the energy throughout the quarantine,” said Randy Hernandez.

Carter McIntosh agrees, pointing out that he and his teammates took to the court regularly over the summer.

The Bulldogs’ season got underway on Monday at Capital City.

“Our season will go well as long as we help each other out,” said Ryan Pemberton.

MMA brings numbers

Missouri Military Academy is loaded. The roster has 24 ready to swing their rackets and another 22 who can easily fill in.

“We have a lot of experienced players,” noted first year head coach Brad Smith.

The Colonels’ top six are all competition veterans. Confidence ripples through the squad.

“We have quite a few players who know what they’re doing,” observed Gorka Jarte, one of the old hands.

Like other teams, the pandemic shut down MMA’s 2020 season. But Marco Taveras says that just motivated him and others on the team to pick up the pace when training started.

“Now that I’m back at it, I feel confident with this team,” agreed Isaac Way.