A familiar face takes over this season as head coach of the Benicia High girls tennis team.
Lisa Burton, who served as an assistant girls coach for Benicia the past six years, takes over for long-time head coach Joe Perrin, who stepped down to focus more on next spring’s boys team. Burton inherits a Lady Panther squad coming off its first league team championship in more than 30 years, becoming the first Lady Panther team ever to go 15-0 in the Solano County Athletic Conference.
“It’s exciting for me,” Burton said of her new role as head coach. “I feel ready to continue what Joe started.”
Burton started playing tennis at the age of eight and won a few tournaments as a junior player. She played all four years at Drake High School in San Anselmo and later played for the College of Marin, which at the time was the No. 2-ranked team in the state and No. 1 in Northern California. She achieved a 4.5 rating in adult tennis leagues and joined Benicia High as an assistant in 2008 after serving as a private instructor.
“I really wanted to help the high school out,” Burton said. “Joe had no help before I got there and we were able to split things up and give players more individual instruction.”
Now in her 50s, Burton is getting help from new assistant coach Melanie Voss – a biology teacher at BHS with a 5.0 player rating. Nearly 30 girls have come out for the team this year, and Burton’s biggest challenges have been looking for a working ball machine and analyzing the talent available.
“The challenge will be to make sure every player gets enough instruction and enough playing time,” Burton said. “That’s hard with so many players and only six courts. I need to make sure everyone keeps improving.”
Voss has been working the girls hard during preseason conditioning and Burton hopes that hard work will translate into wins on the court.
“When the tough three-setters come, hopefully they’ll be able to come through those matches,” Burton said. “I try to work on everybody’s weaknesses and set them up for success. Whatever it is they need to work on, that’s what I want to focus on. I want them to feel comfortable during a match and learn how to exploit their opponent’s weaknesses.”
Benicia’s 2014 opener is Sept. 2 at Fairfield.