Coach praises team for four-match win streak

Maryville boys tennis cruised to another shutout win April 4 after the Spoofhounds went on the road and defeated Bishop LeBlond 9-0 in St. Joseph.

With the win, the Spoofhounds moved up to a 4-1 record and to first place in the Class 1 District 16 season standings.

Over the past four matches, Maryville has cruised to wins by beating Cameron March 28, Benton March 29, Lafayette-St. Joseph April 3 and LeBlond by a score of 9-0 each contest.

With each practice and match, making adjustments on the fly is necessary for success for any team.

Coach Nicole McGinness said she has seen the on-court adjustments paying off in a big way between singles and doubles and has seen improvement from both.

“They are winning with greater margin so they are trying new things to see what works best for them, and it’s working,” McGinness said.

After a 6-3, season-opening loss to Midland Empire Conference foe Savannah March 21, Maryville is on a four-match win streak. McGinness said at this point, the team is moving in the right direction.

“We have momentum on our side,” McGinness said. “We are now moving through the middle and coming up on the latter half of the season, so we need to keep winning and moving forward towards a competitive postseason.”

In the past 12 years, Maryville has had 10 winning seasons. Out of those 10, three of those teams won district titles in 2011, 2012 and 2018. Maryville has had only two losing seasons in the past 12 years, with both of them ending with a win percentage under .500.

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The Spoofhounds have won roughly 70% of their matches in the past six seasons. They will have their chances to continue their prolonged success over the course of five road trips — including the Cameron Tournament April 19.

Leading the charge for the Spoofhounds is sophomore George Groumoutis, who won 8-5 in singles against LeBlond’s senior Noah Stevenson.

Other wins in singles include sophomore Kristian Mendez winning 8-2 over Golden Eagles’ senior Kaiden Baer, junior Kason Teale winning 8-2 over LeBlond’s sophomore Cole Stevenson and junior Landon Baker winning 8-2 over Golden Eagles’ junior Brady Rocha. Groumoutis said he believes if the team continues to be on a hot streak, then a deep postseason run is ahead of him and his team.

“I know this team has what it takes to win, and everybody knows that at this point in the season,” Groumoutis said. “The early jitters were a big deal for me. It gets in the way, and it gets in the way of a player’s performance most of the time. Ever since that Savannah match, they have gone away and now we are on a big winning streak.”

The road trip continues for Maryville, as the Spoofhounds play St. JosephBenton April 6 in St. Joseph and St. Pius X April 12 in Kansas City, Missouri.