By JACOB BRUBAKER
Hays Post
VICTORIA — We met upstairs in her art room, in the afternoon. That’s because her girls tennis team was cheering on the volleyball squad, which had a triangular that afternoon. This meant a 6 a.m. practice for her team, but she wanted the volleyball team to have some support, as she knows her squad sometimes doesn’t get as much as it deserves. Victoria has a proud tradition of football, but there is another proud tradition in action this fall — Coach Kaylene Gabel and the Victoria Lady Knights tennis team.
Gabel has been helping coach the Victoria tennis squad for the last four years and is in her second year as head coach.
“I’m happy to be here, teaching in the district as well,” said Gabel, an art teacher.
The team has accumulated many honors in her tenure, including qualifying six members for state in Gabel’s first season with the squad. However, it would be a mistake to think that was her first exposure to Victoria tennis.
Gabel is a native of the 1,214-person community and was a member of the tennis squad, graduating in 1995. At that time, many more area schools had tennis and Victoria was part of the Mid-Continent league. The coach played her high school tennis for a local legend.
“I played under the legendary Carla Pruitt, who was a huge asset for Victoria tennis and the state of Kansas and was inducted into the Kansas Coaching Hall of Fame,” she said.
Fast-forward to today, and there are considerably fewer schools with girls tennis. Schools in divisions 3A, 2A and 1A all compete as a conglomerate at state and regional meets. Victoria is easily one of the smallest schools that compete in women’s tennis. However, that hasn’t fazed Gabel, as she continues to put together quality squads.
This year’s team features 11 athletes, including four seniors. Comparing that to the 14-girl volleyball team, Gabel feels 11 is a solid number.
“If there is recruiting to be done, the kids are the recruiters. They have a good experience, and they share it with their friends,” she said.
It isn’t just about numbers though. This is a competitive squad that has compiled a record of 71-30 in its matches this season. The team also won the Hays High meet, defeating the 5A host.
Gabel also expressed confidence in the intelligence of her players.
“I always say tennis kids are the smartest athletes. They only get coaching every other match.”
Members of this year’s team are:
Kiara Sweat-Senior
Daphne Gross-Senior
Scarlet Nowlin- Senior
Dallas Nowlin-Senior
Brooklynn Kuhn-Junior
Avery Cochran-Junior
Kenzie Sweat-Sophomore
Makaila Fritzler-Sophomore
Macy Hammerschmidt-Freshman
MaKenna Welbrock-Freshman
Autumn VonLintel-Freshman
Gabel knows she couldn’t do it alone and is assisted by recent Victoria graduate and former tennis player Megan Karst. Gabel is more of a singles expert, which makes Karst all the more helpful.
“I was excited to have an assistant coach who is a little more of the double’s forte. We make for a good mix,” Gabel said.
Together, they have helped to cultivate a family atmosphere that has brought their 11 players closer together. Karst stressed cohesion on her doubles teams, comparing it to a marriage saying.
”If they have a bad marriage, they will perform poorly,” she said.
Gabel added, “Tennis is pretty unique,. It is unlike any other sport. You become almost like a little family. It is neat to see seniors take freshmen under their wing. Our girls don’t seem to know an age limit. They just bond. It is cool because they may not hang out with each other outside of tennis, but year-in, year-out, we have a really cohesive unit.”
The Lady Knights season is nowhere near over as they will be in action in Victoria on Monday against Hays High and Osborne.