As of press time, high school springs sports events and practices had been postponed until April 10. That announcement came as the finishing touches were being put on the Spring Sports preview. We have decided publish these previews in order to highlight Hardy County’s high school athletes, should no opportunity exist later.
Moorefield Tennis has a talented roster of players including seven returning with good experience from the Region II Tournament last year and the battle for the seedings will continue after the hiatus from the coronavirus outbreak.
The Yellow Jackets Tennis head coach is Traci Eskridge Alley.
Two of the graduating seniors from last season’s squad who left valuable insight to the underclassmen signed to play tennis collegiately as state qualifier Cara Jo Long joined Davis & Elkins College and Nick Simpson is at Bethany College.
There will be a shake up in the singles and doubles format with the graduating seniors leaving spots open on the Yellow Jackets roster with the departure of: No. 1 Singles/No. 2 Doubles – Cara Jo Long, No. 2 Singles/No. 1 Doubles – Haley Gallahan, No. 3 Singles/No. 2 Doubles – Kim Miller, No. 3 Singles/No. 2 Doubles – Nick Simpson and No. 3 Doubles – Joseph Wilkins.[private]
Moorefield Girls Tennis senior Taylor Lyons was the No. 4 Singles and No. 3 Doubles player with junior partner Hannah Ratliff last season finishing in the Region II semifinals and should be paired up again to keep the chemistry of the doubles format intact.
Lyons and Ratliff will be competing for singles seeding for the season with Lyons having experience last year at the No. 4 spot.
Moorefield Girls Tennis sophomore Jadelin Hinger was in the Region II Tournament with Miller last season, so a new partner will be assigned for the upcoming season and should be in the singles seeding with tremendous skill on the court.
Moorefield senior Julie Bowen made great volleys in early season competition last year and will look to make an impact battling for a spot in the seedings.
Moorefield Boys Tennis top four singles in the Region II Tournament last season will be back on the courts this season, but seeding will be determined soon as more players are stepping up to earn spots.
Last year, Moorefield Boys Tennis No. 1 seed was current junior Atikilt Tamiru, No. 2 was senior Daury Sanchez-Liriano, No. 3 was Terrance Sadowski (Simpson in regular season) and No. 4 was senior Jonathan Smith.
Tamiru and Sanchez competed in the Region II quarterfinals in respective singles matches as well as in the No. 1 Doubles match.
Smith and Simpson were No. 2 Doubles partners finishing in the Region II quarterfinals last year, so Smith will be needing to find a new partner.
Sadowski and Wilkins reached the No. 3 Doubles semifinal round at the Region II Tournament last season, but this year Sadowski will need another partner.
Moorefield sophomore Malachi Hinger showed good promise last year and could bump up into one of the spots for singles or doubles this season.
There were many players working in exhibition level and practices who are aiming to join the seeding rankings in the near future as the Moorefield Tennis program continues to grow and send out collegiate players with tremendous determination.
The complete Moorefield Tennis roster is comprised of: seniors – Julie Bowen, Taylor Lyons, Daury Sanchez-Liriano, Terrance Sadowski; juniors – Zanna Parker, Willa Campbell, Hannah Ratliff, Sean Miller, Jayzm Bennett, Atikilt Tamiru, Josh Park, Alex Chewning; sophomores – Jadelin Hinger, Arianna Gilbert, Emily Browning, Isabel Maynard, Caitlin Eye, McKayla Coon, Madalynn Clayton, Malachi Hinger, Matthew Delawder, Caden Blizzard, Dominic Cullers, Long Do, Anthony Gonzalez; freshmen – Hailey Mongold, Sicily Dunn, Zoe Vickers, Alexis Williamson, Aleigha Wyman, Felicia McLamara, Emily Soltysiak, Taya Swick, Albert Aleman, Maverick McCain, Connor Moore, Gregory Hartman and Loy Kesner II.[/private]