Mules tennis set tone for season; Extend streak to 5-0

Poplar Bluff senior Tavian Towns connects with a backhand on Thursday as the Mules took on the Dexter Bearcats at Poplar Bluff High School.

DAR/D’Courtland Christian

After winning some early key matches this season, the Poplar Bluff Mules tennis team has established the standard for how they will compete and intends to continue playing well all year long.

The Mules have seen some early success with a 4-0 team record to start the year and recently won first place in this year’s Courts for Cancer Tournament. Coach Michael Sowatzke will have a lot more experience on the roster as the Mules have returned most of their varsity squad from last season. A team district title has alluded the Mules since 2017, and now, with all the right pieces, their chances of making a run are higher than ever.

“We’re really deep this year,” Sowatzke said. “After those first few victories, many of the guys came to court and still felt they played a terrible game, but it showed that they were hungry to get better, so I love to see that. We’ve had some people hurt, but our numbers have shown that we can still be very competitive. Right now, we’re just working on the little things and staying humble.”

As many other teams have returned most of their varsity players and have emerged victorious this season, Sowatzke stated their district is difficult this year. He said teams such as Notre Dame, Jackson and Farmington will be their biggest challengers, but he believes they have the talent to go toe-to-toe.

Last season, the Mules ended with a 4-7 record and received an early exit in the district tournament with a second-round loss to Notre Dame. Sowatzke only had one player compete in distinct singles last season with Angelo Sorrentino, but this year, he will look to the duo of Tavian Towns and Alejandro Rivetti and the rest of his seniors for leadership.

Sowatzke said Towns and Rivetti won medals at many different tournaments in singles and doubles, so they are the No.1 and No. 2 players in doubles who will lead the team by example.

“We’re just looking to keep all the momentum these guys had from last season rolling,” Sowatzke said. “Towns already has a gold medal from our first tournament this year, and we’ve got one of our top sophomores who was very efficient last year. It’s great to have a lot of the guys return and get a second chance to get a district and state title.”

Towns said the medals he won last season were great, but he’s changing his mindset and would like to make a stronger run in the postseason.

“I’m feeling really good and playing really well right now,” Towns said. “I’m probably playing the best tennis I’ve ever had in my life right now. I’m just trying to keep it up. Winning gold at the Courts for Cancer felt really good and was a great boost to my confidence. I’m looking to compete during every matchup, and hopefully, I can land a better seed to get a better placement in districts.”

Sowatzke said the most important task is to take the season one match at a time. He will focus on the best strategy to get them in the right position for districts and build the best team to compete in singles or doubles.

“We’re just hoping to keep everything tight,” Sowatzke said. “Right now, we’re working on things like consistency. The guys have plenty of power, so we’re just trying to tweak their games a little bit to fix some of those bad habits before we go up against elite teams like Farmington and Notre Dame. Overall, we’re ready to give it all we got this year.”

Mules VS Dexter

The Mules continued their dominance on Thursday in a matchup against the Dexter Bearcats at in their home opener at Poplar Bluff High School. The Mules maintained some solid sets for an 8-1 win over the Bearcats to improve to 5-0 in team play on the season. The Mules went 3-0 in doubles and 5-1 in singles competition.

“It was a good showing today,” Sowatzke. “We had a full and healthy roster and won by a better margin than before. (Beau) McCormack was able to scratch out a good win over his opponent, who he lost to earlier this year. We hope to keep our 5-0 season undefeated as long as possible.”

The Mules will host its Poplar Bluff Invitational on Saturday at Poplar Bluff High School.