His dream of a state trip is more realistic than ever.
“There’s a couple good kids (in the district) who graduated, but I couldn’t just rely on graduation,” he said. “I really worked with my coach this winter. I improved a lot. My serve is a big weapon now. And my forehand is a big weapon.”
That’s going to be a big problem for opponents. The reigning Central Buckeye Conference Player of the Year begins his season with four matches this week and is expected to blaze through the league again.
“His game doesn’t really have a weakness, which is really hard to find in high school tennis,” second-year Shawnee coach Leah Ann McCurdy said. “He has the serve, forehand, backhand. And his mental game is there, too, which is awesome.
“When he’s down in a match, he doesn’t get down on himself. He just knows he’ll eventually come back and win.”
Detrick is able to shrug off his past tourney disappointments.
“It’s been a little difficult because (the state) has been my overall goal, but it’s just a process you have to go through,” he said. “I sort of knew the first couple years I wasn’t going to get it because there was such great players. But knowing this is my last year, I’m going to work a lot harder and be more focused to make sure I can try to pull it off.”
While being fully committed to tennis, Detrick also is the school valedictorian with a 4.62 GPA. He plans to major in chemical engineering in college.
“His work ethic on and off the court is outrageous,” McCurdy said.
Detrick helped the Braves to an 8-6 record and a fourth-place finish in the CBC last season. Two other experienced players are back in junior Michael Foley and senior Tanner Brown.
McCurdy, who didn’t know whether she’d have a full team this season, was thrilled when six newcomers showed up for tryouts.
“A lot of them are soccer players, so they have the natural athletic ability, which transfers on the tennis court,” McCurdy said. “I’m excited because they’ve got a lot of potential.”
Though satisfied with an upper-tier finish in the league last year, McCurdy believes the Braves are capable of more.
“My expectations are to build on the success from last season. Having six new players, we’re going to be a completely different team by the end of the season as they get more match experience,” she said.
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