The Riverside Rebels and legendary Coach Terry Conner is coming off another state championship season and this year the bar is as high as ever. Conner loses several talented players but still returns a great group that could place them right back in contention for another state title. On the girl’ s side Coach Conner returns several strong players. Senior Bennett Durham shows exceptional net defense and all around court coverage. She finished as state doubles runner-up from last year. Senior Lela Poe was a strong singles player with several years of experience. Senior Emmie Sanders shows an improved serve and ground stroke. Junior girls include Blakely Biggers and Henleigh McAnally. Biggers plays with a lot of power and has greatly improved her serve. McAnally is a strong player with very good forehand and backhand shots. Sophomore Scout Priest has improved greatly over the summer. She possesses good court awareness and precise shot making. The senior boys return several players but all are coming off injuries that might force them to miss most if not all of their senior year. Senior Zain McClure is a power player with several years of experience. He’ s got a good serving motion and strong forehand. He is recovering from arm surgery after sustaining a significant injury playing baseball late in the year. Senior Tucker Emery is a strong player with impressive net play and improved ground strokes. He also suffered an injury in baseball in the state finals game. Sophomore Landon Berry is a good net player and is improving his shot selection. The Rebels return some new faces. In girls, senior Emerson Holden skipped a year, but is back on the team this year. She is constantly showing improvement in all her shots. Shelby Walling is working on her all-around game while improving her shots weekly. In boys, Gage Alsup( 10th grade) has great speed and agility. His best shots are forehands and serves. River Gipson( 10th grade) has very good net play and court coverage. Gaven Carner( 10th grade) is improving weekly on all his shots. His best shot is a lob. Caygen Bell( 9th grade) is an all-around good player with a very good forehand and backhand. He shows a lot of potential. Asa Fazzio( 9th grade) has a good serving motion and is showing improvement on ground shots.“ Overall, the boy ' s team is young with several new players,” said Coach Conner.“ As the season progresses, the team should get stronger and be very competitive. The singles and doubles players will do well in our weekly matches and will be ready to make a deep run at the district tournament. The girls have several strong returning players with experience at the district tournament and state tournament. They are looking forward to continuing the success they have seen in previous years. They have the potential to do well in both the singles and doubles divisions.