Christ School tennis players won’t be taking any game, set, or match for granted this season.
Along with track, tennis was one of two sports which never got started in 2020 due to COVID-19. So naturally, head coach Jameel Brenneman said his Greenies are eager for Wednesday’s first varsity match – home against Carolina Day at 4 p.m.
“It’s a great team to coach. It’s a fun group, a young group,” Coach Brenneman said.
“Last year, I thought we had a team returning that could have done some special things. Even though we’ve since lost some guys from that team, it’s exciting for the future to see that we’ve now got 6-8 varsity-caliber guys who are going to be around for three or more years. That’s a pretty cool prospect. And they all work hard and are pretty focused on becoming better varsity players.”
Xander Barber ’23 is Christ School’s lone returning starter from 2019 and a formidable No. 1 singles player. The sophomore from Asheville was the Carolinas Athletic Association Player of the Year and an NCISAA all-state selection two years ago with a 13-0 record in singles and 13-1 record in doubles.
“The great thing about Xander is that he has continued to mature and the rest of the guys really respect him and understand his ability,” Coach Brenneman said. “He’s a second set of eyes for me if I’m off working with a different group. He sees things that the other players need to tweak, and it’s great to know he can offer pointers and the other guys will listen.”
Coach Brenneman expects the rest of his singles lineup to include Anton Oeltermann ’22, Ben Fedder ’24, Michael Drendel ’23, Kevin Li ’24, and Cole Lewis ’25. For now, it looks like the doubles pairings will be Xander and Anton at No. 1, Ben and Michael at No. 2, and Kevin and Cole at No. 3.