Zeeland West tennis celebrates first trip to state tournament
HOLLAND - When the Zeeland West tennis team won its first conference championship two years ago, the Dux were starting to build something.
The program has continued to grow and reached new heights with Zeeland West's second OK Green title this season. But the Dux weren't finished - and still aren't - qualifying for the Division 2 state tournament for the first time since 2007.
"Two years ago, that group of seniors helped lay the groundwork and these guys definitely took it and ran with it. Every guy on this team has put in a significant amount of time both in season and in the offseason, getting themselves ready for this," Zeeland West coach Lance McKinney said.
The Dux scored 11 points to finished second at regionals to qualify.
"It means so much. You look at how programs build over time," McKinney said. "This is the first opportunity we have really had as a team like this. We had our No. 1 singles player Spencer Tran make it a few years ago. My first year coaching J.V. we had one J.V. guy. For our guys to put in the time and reach that goal, it means a bunch for our players to see. Hopefully, this inspires our guys push even harder."
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It started with a stellar OK Green Conference tournament. James Stewart won at No. 3 singles and Tyler Dykstra won at No. 4. The Dux also got two flight titles in doubles with Diego Mendoza and Max Settlemyre winning at No. 3 and Quinn Willettte and Mikey Fuller claiming the No. 4 title.
"For us to win as a team means a lot, especially my senior year. It is just all the work that everyone put in ended up paying off," Dykstra said. "As a senior, it is about the younger players looking to you and bouncing off your energy."
The younger players watched the seniors soak in the well-deserved conference title.
"It meant a lot to win conference. Watching the seniors get to experience this is really special," Stewart said. "Nobody expected us to be a conference contender when the season started, but we just continued to improve and we were able to execute. Our coaches were always hyping us up, and we could see the improvement. Beating Holland was huge and gave us the confidence that we could win conference.
"It was a very happy moment taking pictures with the trophy. Winning conference definitely gave us a confidence boost."
Winning has also helped build the program from the ground up in the past couple of years.
"As we have started to have more success, our numbers are up in middle school," McKinney said. "I can try to get the players to do things, but ultimately they have to make the decision to do it, and they have, and that is why we are where we are today."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Zeeland West tennis celebrates first trip to state tournament since 2007
