Mules plan to lean on experience this spring

Poplar Bluff boys tennis coach Michael Sowatzke plans to rely on key returners as the Mules head into a new season.

While the Mules have maintained success throughout the years, it’s time to hit the reset button after losing eight key players from last season.

Despite winning back-to-back district championships in 2016 and 2017, the Mules’ recent run in the postseason has yet to be successful, but Sowatzke believes his core can make a change for the future.

“Overall, we’ve looked pretty good heading into the season,” Sowatzke said. “Our youth doesn’t have much experience, but the guys all have their own power plays. We got a lot of tricks up our sleeves, and I think we’re not as bad shape as we thought we were graduating those eight guys last year.”

The Mules enter the season with many fresh faces that have never played varsity before this year, but Sowatzke will rely on his returning players to set the tone for the team.

Key returners for the Mules are junior Alejandro Rivetti and Tavian Towns.

Rivetti is the No. 1 guy for the Mules, Sowatzke said. He’s a player that lives on the tennis court and is known to stay after practice and work on his game for hours. Meanwhile, Towns is another player whom Sowatzke has seen growth from the previous season as he was a member of the JV team to one of the top starters for varsity.

“Our guys are really competitive,” Sowatzke said. “They’re just out there on the tennis court all the time. Rivetti is one of those guys that could just crush a ball, and Towns has grown a lot during the offseason, and they’re going to be deadly coming into the season.”

Sowatzke said he plans to focus on the growth of his players this season and help them understand how far they can go with consistency. He believes the Mules have a lot of individual strengths but would like for them to expand their skills to be more of a well-rounded threat.

For the Mules to win in those tough matches, Sowatzke said they will rely on different strategies this year than in other years to squeeze out some guys that can hit the ball better than them.

“We got to go up against some powerful seniors, so we’re working on some better ways to control the advantage point,” he said.

“We got some players that can really crush balls, but for us to get better, we must become more versatile, and I believe they understand that.”

Getting the inexperienced players more reps on varsity is the main goal for Sowatzke. He understands the early matchups will be difficult, but he focuses on preparing the team for the postseason.

“I don’t want to undersell or oversell this season, but we must grow,” Sowatzke said. “A lot of these guys are going to be new, but hopefully, by mid-season, we hit our stride and pull everything together. We just have to focus on getting better and staying ready for districts.”

After dropping their season opener Thursday at home to Dexter, the Mules are slated to play in a tournament Saturday and will be back home Tuesay at 4 p.m. against Jackson.