Eagle High tennis standouts make winning look easy
If Skylar Schossberger and Adam Tzeng sat down to recount their past two seasons of tennis, there would be a common thread.
Winning, and lots of it.
Since the start of the 2015 season, neither Eagle player has lost a match, let alone a single set.
Schossberger and Amelia Cogan won the 5A state doubles championship last season, while Tzeng and older brother Andrew also won a doubles title.
This season, Schossberger and Tzeng are each staring at No. 1 singles. Both are No. 1 seeds at state, which runs Friday and Saturday in Boise. Championship matches are scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the Appleton Tennis Center on the Boise State campus.
“It’s great to watch them really get through the matches and be focused and play out the point quickly,” Eagle coach Katie Ware said. “They go in with a game plan, and they execute it.”
Schossberger, a senior, is hoping to wrap up her career with a second consecutive title. She played singles as a freshman and sophomore, taking fourth and second at state, respectively, before trying doubles last season.
Should she win Saturday, Schossberger would be the second player in her family to win a state singles title. Her dad, Steven Schossberger, won a title at Highland in 1988.
“This season she really wanted to play singles and wanted her chance at the title,” Ware said. “Her play has continued to develop, and she has a lot of new tools in her bag of tricks.”
Tzeng, a sophomore, is in his second season of varsity tennis, but he displays the talent of an upperclassman.
“Adam is strong all-around. He has great ground strokes, solid volleys and fantastic serves. As a lefty, he’s a little bit difficult for people in general,” Ware said. “...He’s just really a level above a lot of the players that he gets to compete against.”
While he had his brother to lean on last season, Tzeng has adjusted well to playing on his own.
“I have to stay mentally strong. Tennis is a very mental game,” Tzeng said. “I keep on telling myself, ‘What can I do? Or what would I do in this circumstance?’ I think about the current situation, and that strategy’s gotten me pretty far.”
Ware often pairs Schossberger and Tzeng together for practice drills, and they’ve helped keep one another on track — and humble.
“You have to recognize that anyone can win on any given day,” Schossberger said. “We just have to take it one match at a time.”
Rachel Roberts: 208-377-6422, @IDS_VarsityX
State tennis No. 1 seeds
- 5A: Adam Tzeng, Eagle (boys singles); Skylar Schossberger, Eagle (girls singles); Hartman/Neville, Hillcrest (boys doubles); Austin-Canning/Dominquez, Timberline (girls doubles); Samer/Katayama, Boise (mixed doubles)
- 4A: Cole Hunt, Canyon Ridge (boys singles); Noel Simmons, Middleton (girls singles); Wood/Davis, Middleton (boys doubles); Harrison/Little (Bishop Kelly); Sutton/Klutsch, Century (mixed doubles)
- 3A: Peter Morawitz, Community School (boys singles); Sophie Bush, Grangeville (girls singles); Everitt/DuFur, Community School (boys doubles); Spackman/Weber, Sugar-Salem (girls doubles); Lamb/Nielsen, Parma (mixed doubles)
This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Eagle High tennis standouts make winning look easy."