ROCK SPRINGS — The Rock Springs High School tennis team opens its 2025 season on the road Tuesday against Cody and Powell, looking to build a foundation with a roster full of new faces.
After graduating nearly the entire varsity lineup, the Tigers are in a rebuilding year with 15 of last year’s 16 players gone. Head coach Darin Anderson said the focus will be on gaining match experience and building chemistry quickly.
“We were a senior-heavy team last year with lots of experience,” Anderson said. “We had some great matches and some tough finishes. Overall it was a great group of kids to be around. This year, we’re starting over, so getting court time and match experience will be vital for us.”
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The Tigers finished 14th on both the boys and girls sides at the 2024 state tournament, where several athletes faced eventual champions or high seeds early in their brackets. Anderson said competing against that level of talent showed the importance of refining core skills.
“We work hard to improve our best skills to make the most out of what we have,” he said. “This year’s team plays very hard.”
That work starts with the fundamentals. Anderson emphasized serving and returning as offseason priorities, calling them the keys to starting every point strong.
He also noted the challenges of preparing players for both singles and doubles.
“It is really two different games altogether,” Anderson said. “The drills and strategies involved with each make for two completely different practices simultaneously.”
Despite the turnover, the Tigers will not be short on energy. This year’s roster is made up mostly of juniors, with a handful of seniors and even a couple of sophomores expected to get opportunities.
Anderson said resilience and teamwork will be just as important as technical improvement.
“The matches are ‘individual,’ but it’s still a team game,” he said. “We cheer for one another from outside the fence and also inside the fence.”
As the new season begins, the Tigers’ success may hinge on execution in key moments.
“It comes down to whether we can execute serves and returns and how well we can play the net in doubles and stay connected in rallies in singles,” Anderson said.
