Coming off a strong showing during the 2025 season the Kansas Wesleyan women's tennis is looking to reload this spring.
"A fairly young team, we're going to need some people to step up," fourth-year coach
Brian Vancuren said after the Coyotes went 9-9 overall and 7-5 in the Kansas Conference. "We had probably one of our best seasons in a long time, but we lost quite a bit of talent. Now it's kind of finding ways to fill in those holes."
The Coyotes are not bereft of talent, but it is in short supply.
"I do feel like we're better at the top this year, but I don't feel like we're as deep as we were last year," Vancuren said. "A big piece for us will be figuring out (sophomore)
Corina Salas. She was here her first year as a freshman, then left but then came back. When she's on, she can be one of the best players in the conference. And we've got (freshman)
Rylee Frye, she's from Maize and will be one of our top four players this year."
Vancuren is counting on a few returning players and several young newcomers.
"I think we know who our top four are, but what we don't know is who's going to step up for us on the bottom half of the lineup," he said. "It could be our seniors
Ania Bonner and
Isabella Myers, and we've got some freshmen that have come in and are really hungry. We've seen some growth from (freshman)
Hailey Adami, we're hoping that she can pan out and give us a couple points on the board."
The Coyotes open the season against 25th-ranked Morningside on Friday in Sioux City, Iowa. It's a prelude to a difficult non-conference schedule that also features matches against Northwestern (Iowa), Hastings, Mount Marty and Fort Hays State.
"We've got to take our bumps and bruises until we get to conference," Vancuren said. "I'm okay with what happens in the non-con because now it's trying to put it all together. We might need to go to the drawing board and figure some things out and go back to basics, and we'll deal with that. You've got to take it one notch at a time."
The home opener is against Hastings Feb. 13 at Genesis Salina. KCAC play starts with Avila on March 7 at the Salina Tennis Alliance Tennis Center.
Vancuren said the key is how quickly the team can adapt.
"We know they can play; I think it's another year where they could be in the top half of the conference, maybe in the top four again," he said. "But can they buy in and be coachable and do what they're asked to do? Can they put it all together? I'm interested to see how things play out."
