A Smooth Transition
This season, Joe Reid has moved into the role of head coach of the Portage High School girls tennis team. Reid, who served as the assistant coach last season, swapped roles with previous head coach Joe White.
“The transition has been easy because I was still with the team last year as the JV coach and I still have Coach White helping me with the transition, so it’s been pretty easy,” Reid said.
Reid cited the biggest difference in his new role as “a lot more paperwork.”
Junior Mandy Haupt said Reid is doing “an awesome job” at the helm.
“He really motivates me to do my best and I just really like him as a coach this year,” Haupt said. “He helps me a lot more this year than I have ever been helped before.”
The Final Stretch
The lady-Indians stand at 4-3, 2-3 in Duneland Athletic Conference matches, entering the final week of the regular season. The Indians have home conference matches against La Porte and rival Valparaiso on Tuesday and Thursday, plus road non-conference tilts with Marquette and Lowell Wednesday and Friday. Portage has the benefit of hosting the sectional, which begins on May 15, on its home courts.
“Top to bottom, this is an excellent group of girls,” Reid said. “They just have the best attitudes, they’re positive; it’s been fascinating to watch.”
Determining Positions
Which athletes play for the Portage varsity and junior varsity teams, as well as what slot each player will compete at, was determined prior to the start of the season through an intra-team challenge. Ever player played against each other and Reid established the lineup based on wins and losses.
Outworking the Pack
Junior Mandy Haupt has received the challenge of playing against the opposing team’s top player this season as she goes through her first year at No. 1 singles. Haupt played No. 2 singles as a sophomore.
“We were definitely grooming her last year,” Reid said. “She’s been our No. 2 and the work ethic that she’s put in over the last year was just above and beyond a lot of the girls we have here. It was just a natural thing to have her at No. 1.”
Haupt has embraced the challenge of facing top tier competition this season.
“It’s a little bit more challenging than last year,” she said. “No. 1 is the best player on the team for most schools, but I think I can put up a fight with pretty much anybody. I’m very competitive and I hate losing.”
The Freshman
Portage freshman Emily Sajda was already on Reid’s radar when she was an eighth grader a season ago. This year, she has notched a slot on the varsity squad at No. 3 singles.
“When I looked at her last year when she came out as an eighth grader just hitting around, I figured maybe she’ll be JV, maybe top JV, but she’s really come out and practiced in the offseason and gotten better to a point where she’s now a lock for No. 3 singles,” Reid said. “I think that’s good for her because I see her as a No. 1 down the road.”
Sajda has fit right in with her older teammates.
“Everybody’s just so friendly and all the upperclassmen are just so nice to everybody and welcoming,” she said.
Mental Game
Reid believes that the sport of tennis places a greater emphasis on the mental game than the physical aspect, estimating that it is 90 percent mental.
“They need to have a strong mental game,” Reid said. “So many times girls come out here and lose because they lost their head, they lost their cool and they just couldn’t get the match back under control.”
Reid listed the No. 1 doubles tandem of seniors Bailey Lauritzen and Lauren Zack as two players he expects to have breakout seasons.