Williams learning as he goes as Warriors tennis coach
Apr. 2—With all the success Angie Boninsegna had as the Wyoming East girls basketball coach before her retirement last fall, it might be easy to forget she was also the tennis team's longtime coach.
As with the basketball court, Boninsegna has also moved on from the tennis court. Taking her place this year is Corey Williams, who is enjoying his first season trying to lead the program.
"Any time you take a job that Angie Boninsegna's had, it's big shoes to fill," Williams said. "That being said, it's tennis in Wyoming County. Not a major sport. (The opening) was posted three or four times and nobody was going to take it. I was afraid the program was going to die, so I ended up stepping up and taking it."
Williams said his knowledge of the sport is limited, but he's putting all he's getting support in making sure the players get a chance.
"I don't know a whole lot about tennis, but I have a great assistant coach (Kevin Green) who helps me out. Angie's been behind the scenes helping us out," Williams said. "I'm learning a lot about it. The bad thing is, there's not a lot of interest in tennis."
Tennis participation in the area is unquestionably down. Williams can point to his own boys team as proof.
He almost didn't have one. Boninsegna only had two boys players last year, Aaron Jarrell and Ty Eller, but they were both seniors.
Williams had to hit the halls to recruit players and found one taker — Henry Buchanan, a freshman who had never played before.
"We started out with zero boys and didn't think we were going to have a team," Williams said. "We had to look around. We were asking people from the basketball team — not interested. We finally found somebody on the track and field team (Buchanan). He came over about two weeks ago. I think today was his second match (last Wednesday at Shady Spring).
"He's looking good. Given the situation — he's had enough practices (to be eligible) to play — he looks great. A couple years, I think he could be at states. I really do believe that. If he sticks with it."
The girls team is sporting a full squad, with two alternate players.
"A lot of girls that are interested in tennis, but we are senior heavy, which worries me for next year," Williams said. "We're looking good. We have lost a lot of matches, but the main thing is they come out and have fun."
Senior Chloe Quesenberry is the Warriors' No. 1 seed. At the next two seeds are sophomores Karlee Lusk and Carlee Lane, and senior Kendra Bond is No. 4.
Quesenberry and Lusk team up at No. 1 doubles, while Lane and Bond are No. 2. The No. 3 team is made up of senior Katie Canada and Udval Gantulga, an exchange student from Mongolia.
Lusk is new to the sport and will take a two-match winning streak into next week when the Warriors return to action after a week off.
"She plays volleyball and (decided to) try tennis," Williams said. "She has really stood out. If you watch her, her serve's really good. The Liberty coach (Joan Cooper) came over and said, 'She's really good.' I think she's someone to watch in the upcoming years."
Williams wants to work on getting participation up in the future.
"Again, it's my first year, but we really need to get more interest starting in the middle schools," he said. "Hopefully that's something I can work on. That's something I'm going to focus on, maybe do some kind of summer camp for middle school. Try to get them out."
