With the loss of a talented group of seniors, this year’s Malibu High girls tennis team faces a tougher challenge with a younger roster, but Sharks coach Tim Montgomery is expecting success.
“We don’t quite have the heavy hitters we had last year, but we still should do pretty well in our league,” Montgomery said.
After losing five seniors, the 2014 Sharks return five players from last season, including top doubles specialist Lisa Consiglio. In 2013, Consiglio won more than 80 percent of her matches and helped lead a Sharks team that went 11-3 and 6-0 in the Tri-Valley League and advanced deep in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs.
Montgomery said he is leaning on Consiglio for leadership and to show the eight first-year varsity players the style of tennis he wants the Sharks to learn to play this season.
“She is really helping me to model the type of play I want the girls to do,” he said. “I often point out her skills as an example, the way she moves to the net and hits a volley. She has the biggest serve on the team. She is a big help with her role model function.”
Montgomery said he believes a key to Malibu’s success will be an aggressive style of play. He said the “attack-mode” of tennis he wants the Sharks to play is something he firmly believes can pay off. Personally, he won two CIF Champions while playing tennis at Palos Verdes High School in the 1990s.
“Our coach did that with us. Volley, volley, attacking, attacking,” he said. “So, that is the basic plan.”
The newness of this year’s team is an advantage because he can mold the players into that style of winning tennis.
“I’m always trying to develop the fierceness and competitive qualities,” he said. “That is my goal right now, to teach them how to win matches and get their skill level up.”
Malibu girls tennis has a rich history. The Sharks claimed CIF team titles in 2003 and 2004. In 2011 and 2012 the Sharks advanced to the CIF Southern Division III semifinals only to fall to the eventual state champions. They also won the Tri-Valley for four consecutive years beginning in 2010.
Montgomery is hoping the Sharks make a run in this year’s playoffs also. He said the realignment of the Tri-Valley League will benefit his squad.
The girls’ season was supposed to begin on Sept. 11 at Agoura High School, but the match was canceled. Instead, the Sharks’ first game was on Sept. 15 at Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village.
Malibu hosted Simi Valley High School on Sept. 17 and has a match against Oak Park High School at home on Sept. 22.
Montgomery said the Sharks have untapped potential.
“I’m just working them and trying to teach them everything I can,” he said. “It seems like it’s a real fun team. Everyone is really nice and they get along really well and there is a lot of enthusiasm.”
“We still hope to do very well even though it is a building year,” Montgomery added.
