Improvements Being Seen with Harlan Community Tennis

Harlan Community Tennis' Naia Ojeda (4-25-25)

Improvements Being Seen with Harlan Community Tennis –

(4-25-25) – While a promising start has fallen on hard times, the Cyclone boys’ tennis team is still battling.

Harlan Community Tennis’ Co-Coach Michael Rueschenberg feels his boys’ team is getting solid play from Caden Herbst.

“(Herbst) is playing with a lot of confidence. He’s wanting to get better. Him and Dale Schuering are always the last two to leave after practice. They just stay in hit for an extra 30 minutes because they want to get better.”

Herbst likes the camaraderie he and his teammates have developed.

“More than half the team last year was not returning. They were brand new, so it was a big learning curve for us, you know, only having one returning, two returning guys. But we still figured it out and it’s really nice to play with these guys.”

And getting the first dual win for Coach Stane and first win in over four years to start the season was exciting for the team.

“It was pretty awesome to see how happy he was after that win. I was glad to get it for him. Wish we could pick up a couple more.”

For the girls’, Cyclone exchange student Naia Ojeda thought participating in tennis was an excellent opportunity.

“When I was younger, I played tennis so I thought it was an opportunity for me to, like, be good.”

Ojeda is tied for the team lead with Julia Pando with 3 wins on the season. Rueschenberg talked about how teachable Ojeda can be.

“It’s great to have her continuing to improve and the great thing about Naia is after her tournament on Wednesday we sat down with her and said, OK, these are some things that Coach (Dillon) Stane and I want you to improve on and the great thing is, we're being really picky and they're really specific stuff. But we said it's great that we can do that because (of) how good you’re playing.”

Ojeda says having a friend like Julia Pando on the team helps her enjoy playing.

“My relationship with Julia is so, so, so good. We have a really good friendship and (it) feels more enjoyable playing tennis with her and also with (my) other teammates.”

The Cyclone Tennis teams will next compete against Atlantic on Monday with the boys’ at home and the girls’ on the road.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats