Coach Yamamoto Keeping Tennis Practice At ‘Game Pace’

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Yuta Omori practices his backhand swing on the Kaiser High School courts. Photo by Nathalie Walker, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

As Kristie Yamamoto prepared members of her Kaiser tennis team for this week’s Carlsbad State Tennis Championships, among her top priorities was to simulate the energy level they will see at the event - and the Cougars need only themselves to achieve that feat.

“Practice gets pretty intense,” admitted Yamamoto. “We have both boys doubles teams playing against each other every day, but all of your matches at states are going to have that kind of intensity. It’s all business in a match, so our practices have been good preparation.”

Kaiser will send seven players to this week’s state tournament, which will run Wednesday through Saturday at Central Oahu Regional Park. In addition to qualifying a pair of boys doubles teams (Rei Yoshimine/Ken Covey and Jesse Smothermon/Brantley Yakabe), freshman Yuta Omori will play in his first state tournament. Kari Noborikawa and Kelsey Kusunoki also will take part in the girls division.

For all her emphasis on making practices “game pace” to stay the course, Yamamoto’s greater triumph this season may have been as a matchmaker. Although she had seen Smothermon and Yoshimine reach states the last two seasons as a doubles team, she decided to split up the pair after Smothermon and Yakabe clicked well enough during the soft tennis season in the fall to finish second overall in the OIA.

“You could tell there was a chemistry there with Jesse and Brantley, so we decided to break up the team (of Jesse Smothermon and Rei Yoshimine). It’s worked out really well for all of them. Jesse and Brantley were a great match in soft tennis. They both attack the net, and they’re both really aggressive.”

The pair finished third in the OIA recently. For their part, the team of Yoshimine and Covey placed one notch above at second in the OIA, no small feat given that they only played a few matches together.

“They’ve both alternated between singles and doubles all year, and they make up a strong doubles team. Rei brings a lot of maturity, and he keeps Ken focused. Ken is a great net player with a great serve, and Rei is very steady, so they complement each other.”

Omori was one of the East’s surprises, meanwhile, having returned to the sport after a year off to rehabilitate himself following an injury. Although only a freshman, he finished fourth in the East in overall in the No. 1 singles slot and helped lead the Cougars’ boys team to a second-place finish this spring behind rival Kalani.

“He’s very athletic and has a lot of potential once he puts his mind to it,” Yamamoto said of Omori. “He’s come on strong, and I’ve seen a lot of growth from him this year.”

Although Noborikawa is a junior with another year of eligibility remaining, she was still one of the leaders of the girls team with her workmanlike day-to-day approach.

“Kari has a lot of determination, and she’s one of the older girls, since we have only one senior on the team,” Yamamoto said. “She’s really athletic - she also plays volleyball - and she really wants to do well.

“Kelsey is a very aggressive player,” she added,“and Kari is steady, so together they complement each other.”

To further aid her state qualifiers this week, the entire tennis team (22 players) has been attending practice. “The rest of the team is attending, although the seven get the extra attention.”

While the Cougars’ first emphasis is always on the competition within their own OIA format, Yamamoto isn’t one to underplay the state tournament.

“The state tournament is what we really strive for all season. In the OIA, we all see a lot of each other. The state is our chance to really see what’s out there, especially a younger kid like Yuta. The ILH schools are very competitive, and so are the schools from the outer islands. I think this year the OIA kids have a chance to do well.”

Wednesday’s first-round matches begin at noon at C.O.R.P. Pairings for the state tournament were to be finalized over the weekend.