For the first time during Jason Moisey's coaching tenure, the Canal Winchester High School girls tennis team has been able to practice on its own courts rather than on Groveport's.

Moisey, who is in his seventh season leading the program, said the three courts that were completed this summer on the school's campus have led to better practices, and he's hoping they will help the Indians improve on last season.

As of last week, the Indians were scheduled to play only one home match this season: Aug. 28 against Bloom-Carroll in their MSL-Buckeye Division opener. However, Moisey hopes to switch other matches to Canal Winchester.

The Indians, who finished 7-6 overall in dual matches last year, opened Aug. 15 at Pickerington North.

"It's been a lot easier for the girls to get to our courts for practices and now that we have courts on our school property, there are no more excuses for arriving later or missing practice," Moisey said. "Another exciting thing is we're going to have some home matches this year, which will get our kids more exposure from people at the school. Hopefully, all of this will bring more enthusiasm to our team and will only make us better."

Sophomore Madeline Niceswanger has returned to play first singles, senior Alex Jackson is back at second singles and senior Caitlyn Woodward has returned at third singles.

Seniors Allison Haug and Samantha Haug are playing first doubles and senior Emily Cupp and sophomore Taylor Ramsey are at second doubles.

"We've got all of our singles players back, so we're hoping to improve upon what we did last season," Moisey said. "Last year was our best season and our girls want to match that or do even better."

Last season, Canal Winchester finished second (36 points, 4-2) in the MSL-Buckeye behind Logan Elm (45, 6-0).

In the league tournament, Niceswanger went 3-0 to finish first at first singles, beating Teays Valley's Adrien Leatherwood 8-3 in the final. She had lost to Leatherwood 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 during a 3-2 loss to Teays Valley earlier in the season.

Allison and Samantha Haug (first doubles) and 2012 graduates Emily Baker and Hayley Gross (second doubles) placed second in the league tournament, with Jackson (second singles) and Woodward (third singles) finishing third.

The Indians did not have any players advance out of the Division I sectional tournament at Pickerington Central.

At sectional, Niceswanger won two matches before losing to Leatherwood 6-2, 6-2 in a district-qualifying match. The Haug sisters and Baker and Gross lost in the first round in doubles, and Jackson and Woodward lost in the first round in singles.

"Logan Elm lost two girls, but they will still be strong," Moisey said. "Our girls were second last year (in the MSL-Buckeye) and they're working hard to improve and go after our first MSL championship."

Low numbers may hurt boys golf team

The boys golf team opened Aug. 14 with the MSL-Buckeye preseason tournament at Darby Creek.

Heading into the season's opening week, the Indians had only four players in senior Taylor Crace, junior Gentry Thompson and freshmen Joseph Bernowski and Matt Snyder.

"I'm still looking for players and I'm hoping we'll add more once everyone comes back from their summer vacations," first-year coach Joe Bernowski said. "Gentry has looked real good, and Taylor is playing well, too. The freshmen will improve, but we need to find a fifth scorer."

Last season, the Indians placed fourth (10-8) in the MSL-Buckeye, behind co-champions Fairfield Union (15-3) and Teays Valley (15-3) as well as Logan Elm (11-7).

Canal Winchester finished seventh (350) in the 11-team Division I sectional tournament at The Players Club at Foxfire, behind district-qualifiers Dublin Jerome (300), New Albany (316), Westerville Central (329) and Pickerington North (331) as well as Teays Valley (336) and Hilliard Darby (347).

Thompson, the MSL-Buckeye Player of the Year last season, shot a 77 at sectional to earn one of the four individual district-qualifying berths. He then shot a 78 at district at Apple Valley to miss qualifying for the state tournament at Ohio State's Scarlet Course by three strokes.

"I've heard that Teays Valley is going to be good again this year, but as our players develop, I think we can contend for our league title," coach Bernowski said. "Gentry is looking really good and I think he'll do better than he did last year (in the postseason)."