STARKVILLE — In 2022, wins were hard to come by for Starkville High School tennis.
The Yellow Jackets finished 3-10, unable to find consistency against any team, let alone 6A opponents who regularly swept Starkville in straight sets, not dropping a game.
However, the Jackets saw a reversal of fortunes this season, finishing 12-5 and just missing on the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A team playoffs, a nine-game improvement in the win column in one season.
“There’s been a lot of growth since last year and a lot of mental toughness,” Starkville head coach Vanessa Shaffer said. “That’s really what’s helped us this year, just changing up our entire mindset when we’ve gone out to compete.”
Starkville came into the season with a relatively young roster, carrying just one senior in Charlie Clark, who before the season, signed his National Letter of Intent to play tennis at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
Along with Clark at the helm, Shaffer’s sons, Brandon and Donovan, and one of the leading girls players, Martina Hoffman, all returned in full this season, adding more depth and talent on the roster.
Not having the luxury of practicing indoors during the offseason, Starkville has been limited in its growth on the courts, but in-season effort and attention to the game has risen and the rewards have already been reaped.
“I’m tough on them, but also inspiring at the same time as we have to do as coaches,” Shaffer said. “They embrace it and they take accountability and they keep working. … Some of the losses that we had weren’t major. Brandon, Clinton and Grenada, we lost by one (match), so they know in their minds that they came that close and that’s a team they can beat.”
Starkville had the opportunity to advance into state championships at Class 6A, Region 1 championships, needing a win against Grenada to advance.
However, the Jackets came up short, losing 4 matches to 3.
It was a crushing loss to end the season after a stark turnaround from 2022, but with a near full team of talent returning next season, it will serve as added motivation for Starkville to win its first district title since 2012 and return to the MHSAA state team playoffs.
“I wasn’t surprised, but was surprised about our record this season,” Shaffer said. “I had to take a step back because we hadn’t won that many matches last season. I’m glad we had those matches that we lost because if we don’t fail, how are we going to learn how to win. … When I was leaving, I was like ‘We won’t be the team leaving next year.’ It’s just believing in our ability and what we can do.”
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