By Matthew Zacher ’18
THE ROUNDUP
Varsity Tennis, led by new coach Mr. Eric Chalmers ’10, is preparing for its state tournament later this April after a 13-win season with only one loss to Chaparral.
Mr. Chalmers, a Brophy graduate, played tennis at Seattle University, and is currently in his first year of coaching high school tennis.
“I am proud to say that I am a Brophy alum,” he said in an email to The Roundup. “I played for the Brophy tennis team under the legendary coach Mr. Bill Woods winning back to back state titles my junior and senior year.”
Mr. Chalmers said that Jack Vanderway ’17 has been an outstanding leader for the 13 player team this year.
“Jack has gone undefeated at our No. 6 singles spot, a vital position for the team,” he said. “He also supplied the team with great emotional leadership, routinely firing everyone up with his passion and energy on and off the court.”
The team is also lead by Trey Brown ’17, who competes at the No. 1 singles spot.
“He is dedicated to doing all he can to make sure this team raises the state championship trophy at the end of the season,” Mr. Chalmers said.
He said that the team also received valuable contributions from individuals like Kyle Virden ’18.
“The year so far has been really awesome,” Virden said. “We have our new head coach this year, Mr. Eric Chalmers, and he has been phenomenal and really sparked up the team this year.”
Virden said that after a tough loss to Chaparral, he was impressed with the team’s ability to bounce back and defeat Hamilton, the No. 1 team in the state.
“The team is strong,” he said. “Everyone is playing great, there is a lot of competition out there amongst the Brophy players.”
This high level of play is important with the state tournament approaching in April, and Virden said the team will have clinched the No. 1 seed with a win against Gilbert on April 6.
Mr. Chalmers pointed out that this year’s success is no anomaly, as no other Brophy team except swimming has more state titles than tennis.
However, Mr. Chalmers said his goal was to establish a tennis program that functioned like a top-flight college program.
Virden said he believes that Mr. Chalmers has succeeded in this goal.
“The team is so much more structured now,” he said. “Coach Chalmers shows how much he cares and shows how much he wants this team to succeed. He is very organized.”
Varsity Tennis will compete in the state tournament following the Easter break at the Paseo Racquet Center.
