Notre Dame the standard for tennis in Southeast Missouri

It’s no secret that the Notre Dame Bulldogs’ boy's tennis program is one of the tops in the area.

After a commanding 9-0 win over Dexter on Tuesday, April 6, Bearcats coach Eric Boles had high praise for the Bulldogs.

“Notre Dame is definitely the best team in Southeast Missouri,” Boles said. “We had to move all of our players up a level, due to an injury to my #1, so they were all playing out of their normal positions.”

So, what makes the Bulldogs successful? According to coach Donna Ryan, it starts with the mental aspect of the game.

“It’s their mentality,” Ryan said. “They want to play tennis, they want to get better and they have a good time doing it.”

The fact that the team takes it upon themselves to get better makes the work for the coaching staff easier.

“It’s so nice seeing people come in able to play tennis,” Ryan said. “All winter and fall they were out playing tournaments. Even today, school was out and they were out practicing up until the storms came.”

The Bulldogs have a knack for getting out to a fast start in doubles, with all three of their pairings being able to control the game.

Ryan said the coaches listen to the kids on who they want to pair up with.

“They know who they gel with best,” Ryan said. “We used to look for good combinations and put the boys together ourselves but they seem to have figured that out for themselves.”

Notre Dame’s top pair of Charlie West and Matthew Austin has been able to produce a lot of success playing together.

“If something goes wrong, they pick one another up,” Ryan said. “Sometimes you can go a little flat when you’re playing and they’re both very tolerant of that because they know that it happens. They can pick each other up and even tell each other when they could do something better.”

Ryan said the ability to not waver in terms of confidence that Austin and West have is rare.

“Matthew is totally driven to be a tennis player,” Ryan said. “And, Charlie is just an all-around great athlete. (Charlie) and Matthew is just a great combination and they take care of the job themselves.”

Because the Bulldogs have been dealing with injuries, freshman Owen Blattel has served in a utility role that has seen him bounce around in doubles,

“He’s been a blessing for us this year,” Ryan said. “He’s partnered up with several different guys to play doubles. He just plays with different people and he’s remarkably adjustable.”

Ryan feels Blattel is more of a singles player but his role has been in doubles.

“He’s kind of learned that if he wants to have a place on the team he needs to be adjustable,” Ryan said. “He’s worked well with all the kids he’s worked with.”

Notre Dame has started the season 4-0 and they’ve been able to balance their competitiveness while also having fun.

“We want them to have fun,” Ryan said. “They just have a good time playing. They don’t get too serious but they really work at what they’re doing.”

Notre Dame returns to action at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12 when the Bulldogs host Sikeston at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Ryan has been pleased with what she’s seen on the court and is hopeful the team will see more success as they get healthier.

“We just need to keep them physically well,” Ryan said. “Our number three player and our number five player were out for the first three matches. We’d like to have them all playing at the same time.”