UPDATE: OKEMOS - The Spring weather in march has given the girls varsity tennis team at Okemos high school the opportunity to get outside early and practice before their upcoming season.

Al Inkala, Okemos girl’s varsity tennis head coach said, “the weather’s been tremendous obviously. It’s so hard to get indoor courts this time a year. So, we haven’t missed a practice.”

19-year head coach, Al Inkala, is excited about the variety of girls that make up his varsity squad. He explained, “I’ve kept 18 on the varsity, that’s more than we’ve ever kept. We have 5 or 6 freshman and they’re a real nice group and a nice nucleus coming back from last years team.”

The biggest difference between this year and last year, captain Emily Doster, explained, “Last years team I feel like we got kind of lazy. We knew we were good and we just kind of lost our drive to play. But, this year we have a lot of fresh blood on the team and we’re really motivated.”

Coach Inkala doesn’t try to set goals, but he does expect a lot from his team come post season. “We always try to improve, be ready for the states. Obviously we would like to win the league and the regional’s and then we play 8 tournaments so we’re ready for the state tournament hopefully. If we can get seeded then we always have a chance to win the state. We haven’t won it in a while, so we are a little hungry,” Inkala said.

He finished up explaining, “I’m really optimistic. I think we are gonna have a nice season with these kids.”


ORIGINAL STORY: OKEMOS - Girls varsity tennis is set to kick off and the weather certainly hasn't hurt Okemos as they prepare for the season. Watch All Access for the details.