South Kitsap tennis players enjoyed a victorious end to their regular season Oct. 10, celebrating the program’s ten seniors and a 5-0 team win over league foe Graham Kapowsin.
The win capped a year in which the program experienced a tremendous leap in the right direction under first-year head coach Josh Morton, who also began coaching the girls team this past spring and started as a junior varsity coach the year prior. The Wolves had not won a single league match in 2023 but earned multiple wins this year including their regular season finale in Port Orchard.
Number one singles player senior Teotimo Aguilo cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win in his match, and number two singles senior Tanner Rockafield tallied another victory to move to a 10-1 individual record.
“This has been his year,” Morton said of Rockafield. “When we hosted the SK invitational at the beginning of the year, going against teams like North Kitsap and Olympic and Gig Harbor, he took third in that tournament.
Rockafield’s record might suggest a change in position between himself and Aguilo on paper, but their different styles of play continue to justify their spots on varsity, a case that Morton hopes to make for postseason seeding.
“Teo’s style is just one of those that gets under your skin a little bit,” he said. “Tanner’s definitely had the highlight season out of anybody too. Can’t ask for more than that, and he still tells himself that he should have beat the guy he lost to.”
In doubles, Kartner Warner and Finn Byrne won in straight sets, as did second doubles Alex Valentine and Bryce Barnett and third doubles Jeremy Heberlein and Sam Colson.
With the group of seniors – seven of them varsity – set to depart after this year’s athletic season, Morton will be tasked with finding the newest lineup of tennis players for SK. His first look will likely be to his junior varsity number one singles player, sophomore Sawyer Drew.
“He just picked up the racket the summer before his freshman year and really took to it,” Morton said. “He has some really natural ability, and when you see him swing the racket, you’d think he’s done some club practices and stuff like that.”
