Coming off a tie for the Duneland Conference title and a Sectional Championship, things could be even better this year for Coach Gretchen Shinn’s girls tennis team.

The Trojans open the 2012 campaign on Saturday when they travel to Lafayette to face Lafayette Jefferson in the morning and West Lafayette in the afternoon.

“We’re much deeper as a team and our goal is to win the conference outright,” Shinn said. “Obviously the Sectional is a goal and then the Regional has changed so hopefully we get a chance to see South Bend St. Joe or Penn and I think it’ll be interesting to see where we stand.”

Chesterton has a bona fide number one at the top of the lineup in IUPUI-signee Bobbi Modesto.

“Bobbi’s back and the only thing that I really know is that she’s number one singles,” Shinn said. “She’s just a great player and made a nice run in the state tournament last year. We know we can count on her.”

Margaret Shinn is the other top-level player for the Trojans and will see time throughout the lineup with her versatility.

“Margaret can play anywhere in singles or doubles and do well,” Shinn said. “She had the best record on the team last year and we know we can count on her. Having Bobbi and Margaret back gives us two points in a lot of matches.

“Now we have some more depth to add to them.”

And that depth should be the team’s biggest strength.

“We only lost one player from last year and we gained one,” Shinn said. “It’s great to have the flexibility to do that in our lineup. In one match we might load up singles to get the three points and sometimes we’ll need to get both doubles points.

“It’s nice to have the type of girls that can adjust to two or three different lineups.”

Freshman Meg Modesto is the only new face to be counted on as Shinn appears to have a core group of nine kids to mix into the lineup.

“Freshman Meg Modesto is in the mix now and the girls that return to the varsity have a year under their belts of what to expect and how to play at this level,” Shinn said. “I think we’ll have seven to nine kids that are moving around inside the lineup depending on who’s playing well and who we are playing. They should be more comfortable.”

That group includes Sunny Lee, JJ Lee, Rachel McCrum, Amanda Susnak, Molly McCoy and Katie Sekula.

“The rest of the team has to be flexible because we’re going to do what’s best for match-ups week to week against whoever we play,” Shinn said.

Posted 4/6/2012