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Aug. 12—MITCHELL — There's high hopes for the Mitchell High School girls tennis team in 2026.
It would be easy to bemoan what's changed since last season, when the Kernels were 14-5 in duals and finished fourth at the Class AA state tournament. Since then, their No. 1 player from last year graduated and the next-in-line No. 1 for this season is out after a knee injury from basketball season.
But motivations are still high. For coach Pat Moller, that's because of a committed offseason — as strong as one he's had in 15 years as head coach — said he believes his team is in a position to reload, rather than rebuild, with a strong nucleus of players returning and a deep junior varsity program continuing to feed in new players.
"We definitely have some girls that, if you look at their JV records, they're definitely ready for some varsity tennis," Moller said. "Now they're going to have to step up and they're going to get that opportunity and we'll see as we go on what kind of depth we'll have. We have a lot of young girls that are going to play JV that would be varsity players for a lot of other teams. And in terms of the lineup, if I don't have it right at the beginning, we've got opportunities to make some changes and make sure we have the best possible team for the tournament run."
The Kernels graduated No. 1 singles player Megan Mastel and won't have the talents of No. 2 singles senior Matteah Graves this season, after she suffered a knee injury during basketball season last winter.
That means the Kernels will need a new lead pair, led by senior Katie Morgan and junior Ava Prunty in doubles. Morgan is at Flight 1 for singles play and Prunty is at Flight 3, while senior Mia Larson is at No. 2 singles and junior Elliot Smith is at No. 4 singles, with Larson and Smith pairing up at No. 2 doubles. Freshman Charlee Cimpl is playing at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles, where she pairs with junior Taryn Bultje. No. 6 singles will have senior Sydney Love playing for the Kernels.
"Losing Matteah was a shock and a blow to everybody, and people across the state have been looking at us and thinking when these girls are seniors, they're going to have something there," Moller said. "Well, we still do have something here and while it hurts to not have Matteah, I think it also motivated them to be ready over the offseason knowing they're going to have to step up on the court. It led to more tournaments, more lessons, more court time. We're just ready to see if all of that work is going to pay off."
Smith and Prunty were third-place finishers in their flights at the 2025 state meet, with Smith playing Flight 5 and Prunty playing at Flight 6.
To start the season, the Kernels have specifically crafted the doubles pairings at all three Flights, rather than going in the order of the singles flights. Moller admits it's a difficult task to figure out which players should pair up but said he owes it to the players to put them in the best position to win.
"With the depth that we have, my No. 4 and my No. 1 are pretty darn close to each other," Moller said. "So, there's a little bit more decision-making to be made there. Sometimes it comes down to if those girls get along really well, they tend to play better together. And then it is just what each individual player brings and there's just a lot of variables there that we try to make it right."
Mitchell opened the season with two wins on Tuesday, hosting a double dual with Aberdeen Roncalli and St. Thomas More at Hitchcock Park. The Kernels have seven more home dates in August and September before the Eastern South Dakota Conference championships on Sept. 28-29 in Aberdeen and the Class AA state competition on Oct. 8-9 in Rapid City.
Moller was also encouraged by the 40-plus participants out for girls tennis this season, including more than 10 in sixth grade. He knows that not all of those players will stay with the sport into high school but it's a good chance to continue growing the program and the game. The entire program had a intra-team Kernel Tournament on Aug. 8 that helps determine player's rankings in the program but also gives everyone a chance to compete.
"My philosophy is you want to give these kids an opportunity to love the sport," Moller said. "When all you're doing is practicing, you tend to lose interest. It's not as much fun. ... Most coaches in the state know that if they want a JV or middle school event, we'll drive just about anywhere to give them that opportunity. I think that's what builds a program, that's what builds interest and ultimately contributes to our long-term success."
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It would be easy to bemoan what's changed since last season, when the Kernels were 14-5 in duals and finished fourth at the Class AA state tournament. Since then, their No. 1 player from last year graduated and the next-in-line No. 1 for this season is out after a knee injury from basketball season.
But motivations are still high. For coach Pat Moller, that's because of a committed offseason — as strong as one he's had in 15 years as head coach — said he believes his team is in a position to reload, rather than rebuild, with a strong nucleus of players returning and a deep junior varsity program continuing to feed in new players.
"We definitely have some girls that, if you look at their JV records, they're definitely ready for some varsity tennis," Moller said. "Now they're going to have to step up and they're going to get that opportunity and we'll see as we go on what kind of depth we'll have. We have a lot of young girls that are going to play JV that would be varsity players for a lot of other teams. And in terms of the lineup, if I don't have it right at the beginning, we've got opportunities to make some changes and make sure we have the best possible team for the tournament run."
The Kernels graduated No. 1 singles player Megan Mastel and won't have the talents of No. 2 singles senior Matteah Graves this season, after she suffered a knee injury during basketball season last winter.
That means the Kernels will need a new lead pair, led by senior Katie Morgan and junior Ava Prunty in doubles. Morgan is at Flight 1 for singles play and Prunty is at Flight 3, while senior Mia Larson is at No. 2 singles and junior Elliot Smith is at No. 4 singles, with Larson and Smith pairing up at No. 2 doubles. Freshman Charlee Cimpl is playing at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles, where she pairs with junior Taryn Bultje. No. 6 singles will have senior Sydney Love playing for the Kernels.
"Losing Matteah was a shock and a blow to everybody, and people across the state have been looking at us and thinking when these girls are seniors, they're going to have something there," Moller said. "Well, we still do have something here and while it hurts to not have Matteah, I think it also motivated them to be ready over the offseason knowing they're going to have to step up on the court. It led to more tournaments, more lessons, more court time. We're just ready to see if all of that work is going to pay off."
Smith and Prunty were third-place finishers in their flights at the 2025 state meet, with Smith playing Flight 5 and Prunty playing at Flight 6.
To start the season, the Kernels have specifically crafted the doubles pairings at all three Flights, rather than going in the order of the singles flights. Moller admits it's a difficult task to figure out which players should pair up but said he owes it to the players to put them in the best position to win.
"With the depth that we have, my No. 4 and my No. 1 are pretty darn close to each other," Moller said. "So, there's a little bit more decision-making to be made there. Sometimes it comes down to if those girls get along really well, they tend to play better together. And then it is just what each individual player brings and there's just a lot of variables there that we try to make it right."
Mitchell opened the season with two wins on Tuesday, hosting a double dual with Aberdeen Roncalli and St. Thomas More at Hitchcock Park. The Kernels have seven more home dates in August and September before the Eastern South Dakota Conference championships on Sept. 28-29 in Aberdeen and the Class AA state competition on Oct. 8-9 in Rapid City.
Moller was also encouraged by the 40-plus participants out for girls tennis this season, including more than 10 in sixth grade. He knows that not all of those players will stay with the sport into high school but it's a good chance to continue growing the program and the game. The entire program had a intra-team Kernel Tournament on Aug. 8 that helps determine player's rankings in the program but also gives everyone a chance to compete.
"My philosophy is you want to give these kids an opportunity to love the sport," Moller said. "When all you're doing is practicing, you tend to lose interest. It's not as much fun. ... Most coaches in the state know that if they want a JV or middle school event, we'll drive just about anywhere to give them that opportunity. I think that's what builds a program, that's what builds interest and ultimately contributes to our long-term success."
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