The Morgan Academy Senators boys and girls tennis teams are heading back to Montgomery looking to invoke memories of last year.

The Senators will participate in the Alabama Independent School Association State Tennis Tournament at Lagoon Park in Montgomery starting Monday, April 16 at 8 a.m. and ending Tuesday, April 17 at 9 a.m.

Morgan tennis coach Baxter Stinson said the Senators are confident, but they’ll have to work hard to win it all.

“We’ve had a great year, really,” Stinson said. “We were a little unsure of how it was going to be. We lost three girls and our top two boys (from last year). Last year, we knew our girls were going to win. This year, we’re going to have to play and you’ve got to win to win.”

The Senators are sending ten players — five boys and five girls — all of which will play singles matches, while two sets of boys and two sets of girls will also participate in doubles.

MaCain Levins, a senior tennis player for Morgan who’ll be playing in the tournament, said the season’s had its ups and downs, but he’s confident the Senators will bring home some trophies.

“We’ve had a great year,” Levins said. “There’s been some bumps in the road, of course, but I really think we’re going to win state. It’s going to take a lot of hustle and determination to win.”

Sarah Reeves, a junior, said she’s excited about the girls team’s chances of winning.

“Individually, I’ve had a really great year,” Reeves said. “This is my first time going to state, as a number one seed, hopefully. I’m really excited about the girls team. We have a bunch of new, younger players who have potential to win, so it should be good. We really bonded as a team this year, so I think we can do it.”

Stinson said Morgan has set a goal for itself to get better each day throughout the season, and that goal has helped them get closer to repeating as state champs.

“Getting better every day — that’s our motto,” Stinson said. “I had t-shirts made that we practice in just so they can see it every day. That’s our goal. We’re not worried about what happened yesterday or what happened a week ago. Our goal is state.”

Other Morgan players participating in the state tournament include boys Hain Beers, Kyle Stewart, Connor Stephens, and Peyton Mathiews.

Girls players include Caroline Sherrer, Lizzie Reeves, Sophie Talton, and Emily Sherrer.