T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - The Marshalltown High School boys’ tennis team will have two entrants in the individual state tennis tournament Tuesday at the Veterans Memorial Tennis Center in Cedar Rapids. Jason Strand (front left) and Colin Schmit (front center) comprise the Bobcats’ state doubles team, while senior Kevin Strand (front right) has qualfiied for the Class 2A state meet in singles play. Nile Christensen (back left) and Gavin Jablonski (back right) will serve as alternates for MHS.

An early morning in Cedar Rapids awaits three of Marshalltown’s best boys’ tennis players.

The Bobcats qualified one singles player in senior leader Kevin Strand and the duo of junior Jason Strand and senior Colin Schmit in doubles. Nile Christensen and Gavin Jabonski are alternates in doubles.

This year, the draw has been not as rough on the Bobcats, head coach James Christensen said.

“Both our singles and doubles draw look promising,” Christensen said. “Nothing comes easy at the state meet, but being in winnable matches is fantastic. The guys know what they need to do, just go out there, compete and they know they can bring home some wins.”

Kevin plays against Iowa City West’s Luca Chackalackal in the round of 16 on Tuesday while Jason and Schmit play against No. 3 seed Linn-Mar and the duo of Malcolm Rice and Brock Hanna, with matches scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. from Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex in Cedar Rapids. There is a decent-to-strong chance rain could have an impact on proceedings — in which case things would move to Iowa City and the Hawkeye Indoor Complex.

Christensen said the uncertainty is something the boys will have to navigate, but given the poor weather throughout the spring season and amount of practices spent inside, he said he feels confident it won’t have too much of a negative connotation for the Bobcats if there is a change in scenery.

It’s going to be a new experience for Schmit, the only one of the three Bobcats competing this week to have not made it to state tennis prior.

A golfer and tennis player, Schmit didn’t start playing on the varsity level for the tennis team until his junior year when he played No. 5 doubles. Schmit said that year playing doubles with 2021 graduate Drake Stalzer helped build his confidence and made him realize he could keep up at the varsity level.

Playing with Kevin in doubles throughout the season as the Bobcats managed Jason’s foot injury was another key point for the senior — building confidence he hopes to bring into Tuesday’s early rounds of competition.

“You’re playing the best people in the state, and I’m not that good but it made me better as a player to play these guys that are way better than me and that made me a better doubles player with Jason,” Schmit said. “Kevin kind of taught me how to play better at doubles against these really good players.”