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Ready to Go
The Woodstock Academy girls’ tennis team is ready to serve up its first season in two years. Photo by Keith Atchinson.
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Talent abounds
on Centaurs
girls’ tennis team
From first singles to third doubles, first-year Woodstock Academy girls’ tennis coach Keith Atchinson is pretty confident.
“We’re really deep,” Atchinson said. “We have a huge core of juniors who are all very talented and are showing a lot of promise.”
Add to that a freshman, Ellie Bishop-Klee, who has stepped up and will likely play first doubles and the ingredients are there for a successful season.
Then again, considering the Centaurs didn’t even get a chance to play last season, just having a season will be considered a success.
“I’m just so excited. I love this team because all of the girls are always so close. We’re all happy just to be back on the courts,” said junior Jackie Trudeau.
Atchinson will be one of the many new faces on the sidelines and baselines for the Centaurs this season. He grew up in northern Vermont and did so, literally, with a racquet in his hand as his father was a tennis instructor and introduced his son to the tennis court when he was 3 years old. Atchinson played through high school and went to college on a tennis scholarship at St. Michael’s College. He still plays on the United State Tennis Association circuit.
“This is my first official tennis coaching job,” Atchinson said. “When I was in college, I used to teach tennis at Topnotch Resort in Stowe, Vt., so I’ve taught tennis before,” Atchinson said. It’s not his first coaching experience, however.
He has coached girls’ high school basketball at Douglas (Mass.) High School and middle school girls’ basketball at St. James in Danielson.
Trudeau said, “I think he has already helped us get stronger as a team. He’s taught us so many skills we can use on the court and in the games.”
Trudeau will begin the season as the No. 2 singles player on the team behind classmate Adeline Smith. Both will serve as captains.
Sydney Schuler and Alexa Fernandez will start as the No. 3 and 4 singles for the Centaurs, respectively.
The top doubles team will have Bishop-Klee teamed with Logan Reynolds. Sara Cotillo and Morgan Bentley will comprise the second doubles and Fiona Rigney and Stella Atchinson will play third doubles.
“The energy has been off the charts and they’re just having a good old time,” Keith Atchinson said.
Due to a postponement last week, the Centaurs will not open the season until Friday when they play host to Montville.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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