Peninsula tennis improving despite season setbacks
If there’s anyone who knows about the Peninsula-Gig Harbor rivalry, it’s Cheri Ausboe.
After her freshman year at Peninsula, the now-tennis coach for the Seahawks transferred to Gig Harbor upon the school’s opening, and competed for both sides of the crosstown rivalry throughout her high school tennis career.
“It’s always been a rivalry,” Ausboe said. “It’s a very friendly rivalry. We enjoy playing them because we know the level of play is going to be so high between the two schools.”
Now at the helm of both the boys and girls squads at Peninsula, the tennis program -- like all of high school sports amidst a pandemic -- has endured its fair share of hiccups. The state qualifiers from the boys team missed their chance to compete at the championships last spring, and the girls lost their season entirely.
The boys season would be in full swing as the fall months pass, but the coronavirus has continued to suspend athletic competition. What Peninsula can do, however, is meet for biweekly practices during the coaching period that runs through November.
Like other schools, the tennis teams are taking precautions to ensure safer meetings among the group.
“When they arrive, they have to have a mask on,” Ausboe said. “I take their temperature and they turn in their (parent) attestation sheet … and I disinfect their hands. We have, typically, two players on a court. Sometimes we’ll have four, and we have another player hitting on the ball machine. We disinfect the handles to the hopper to pick up the balls. At the end of practice, they put their masks back on and I spray their hands again.”
As of now, Ausboe says that varsity players make up the practices exclusively. Seven of the eight girls on the varsity team are competing on Tuesday and Thursday, and five boys are participating in Monday-Wednesday meetings.
And despite the season being postponed, Ausboe says her players are making strides in their game, given the amount of time they receive with their coaches.
“Just in the short amount of time that we’ve been practicing … We’ve been able to give them so much one-on-one time,” Ausboe said. “One of my varsity boys decided to switch from a two-handed backhand to a one-handed backhand, which allows him more reach when he’s running for a ball. Just the fact that he can get on that ball machine or get more instruction from the coaches… it’s amazing. His one-handed backhand is now better than his two-handed (backhand).”
When the season arrives -- in March for the boys and April for the girls -- Peninsula looks to build on their success in recent years, including an eleven-win season for the girls their last time on the court and a mere one-loss season for the boys in 2019.
Ethan Sun and Keyvyn Rogers qualified for state as a doubles team last fall and never had their chance to compete; now’s their chance for revenge.
“We’re hoping that this will be their year,” Ausboe said. “I’m hoping that they will have continued success and qualify for state again.”
And though Sterling Sites, Lena Janson, and Somer Mayer represented the girls at the state championships for Peninsula in 2019, they never had their chance to repeat their appearances in 2020.
If their season resumes in 2021, it’ll be their last chance to make a postseason run.
“They didn’t get to play their season,” Ausboe said. “I just would hope that they qualify for state before they graduate.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 6:00 AM.