Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Pasco banishes pushover status

By MIKE CAMUNAS
Published April 8, 2007

DADE CITY - The Pasco girls secretly have been trying to become a better team - at least when they sneak into Lake Jovita Country Club to use its clay courts.

"We love going to Lake Jovita," sophomore No. 1 seed Mallory Bodine said. "(No. 3) Melissa (Davis) and I get everyone and take them over to those really nice clay courts."

Even with their extracurricular practices, the Pirates started the season 0-3, which made it seem like Pasco's misery would continue. The team was 2-42 in the past three seasons.

Overshadowed by the success of the school's baseball and softball teams, the coach John Zonin said many things changed, leading to the team's 6-8 record.

"Basically, we called it a club," Zonin said. "We came, we played, we had fun, we went home. Two years ago, that is all they cared about - the uniforms. ...This year, I knew they had only won two matches last season, so I got the uniform thing out of the way quickly so they could concentrate on tennis."

Focusing on tennis brought the upset of the season: On March 20, Pasco stunned county powerhouse Wesley Chapel 4-3.

"I think what got everyone's attention was when we beat Wesley Chapel," said Zonin, who also coaches the girls soccer team. "(The Wildcats) may be having a down year, but they still have talent. We went in there and beat them, and that really opened the players' eyes."

Now their eyes are wide open to winning.

"We take practice serious now," said No. 5 sophomore Ally Tisdale, 12-0 this season. "Last year, we'd talk a lot and maybe hit some balls. Now, we come to practice excited and practice really hard. Then we say, 'I want to work on this or that,' and because of it, we're a winning team."

The team's veteran agrees the shift in focus has been beneficial.

"It's amazing," said senior Stephanie Davis, who plays doubles. "It's really just completely different. It used to be loss, loss, loss, and we had a basketball coach, so we didn't play tennis at practice - we'd play basketball."

Zonin said the team's attitude has changed. Since the players began taking the sport more seriously, they became better friends. Tisdale calls the team a "big group of sisters," and everyone agrees the relationships have anchored the team.

"We're working together much more than before," Bodine said. "We worked really hard all summer, and now we're much closer, whether it's making fun of each other and giving each other nicknames or just having more fun with each other as a real team."

Melissa, Stephanie's younger sister, said the team acts more like a collective group.

"We just back each other 100 percent," she said. "We're always there for each other now. ... The whole team is more friendly with each other, and it's not cliquey like it used to be."

But there is one more accomplishment the team wants: recognition.

"I'm glad we're finally getting recognized, because not many people knew about us," Bodine said. "People would even say, 'Pasco has a tennis team?' and we're finally getting recognized because we're doing so much better than we have before."

Added Melissa Davis: "It'd be cool to get a couple more wins and just get respected. Everyone always says, 'Oh, it's just Pasco.' But now we're getting our names on the map, and right now, that's what's important."

Zonin is proud his team isn't looked at as an easy win.

"People used to ask, 'How quick was your match? How much did you lose by this time?' " Zonin said. "But now it's, 'Who did you beat? You did what?' It's just not the same team it used to be, with players who are young, doing well and (are) going to be here for a couple more years."

The core players will return next season, looking to build on their current success. And as Bodine puts it, even if they are caught, they won't give up their secret training site.

"We'll still go (to Lake Jovita) anyway, so it's no biggie," Bodine said. "They know who we are by now."

[Last modified April 7, 2007, 22:59:31]