Bucktail tennis looking for 16th straight D4 playoff appearance
By Bees O’Brien
FARWELL, PA- It’s hard to find any team in any sport that has put together a playoff streak like Bucktail tennis has. The Lady Bucks haven’t missed a PIAA District 4 2A team tennis playoff since 2007.
2007 was when Dan and Allison Heiser took over a program that had never had a winning season and they haven’t looked back.
They’ve captured a pair of NTL titles, hosted two playoff matches and picked up a first-round win over South Williamsport at home last season before falling to Montgomery in the D4 2A quarterfinals.
Bucktail left the NTL in 2013 to join the Mid Penn Conference, but they still compete against a host of NTL schools.
“Conditioning and Allison really pushing the girls was the biggest factor in turning around the program.” Coach Dan Heiser said.
The Lady Bucks will return five starters from a season ago and two other girls got a lot of court time to help them be strong again in 2022.
Bucktail finished 11-3 last season, good enough for second place in the Mid Penn Conference.
Seniors Kayla Probert, Bella English, Abby Miller and Kori Prebble lead the charge. Juniors Alexis Lowery, Gigi Bulchun and Giada Demarte are joined by a strong freshmen class made up of Eva Sockman, Makenna Stone, Mckenna Bissman and Kendall Wagner.
Bucktail’s first match is slated for Tuesday, Aug. 30 when they’ll travel north to face the Lady Green Hornets of Wellsboro before opening their 2022 Mid Penn play on the road against defending conference champions Montgomery.
Their first home match will be Thursday, Sept. 1 when they meet the Lady Black Knights of Towanda.
The Heisers have been a crucial piece to the Bucktail tennis revival, but coach Dan Heiser is quick to pass off the success to the dedication of the girls and his wife coach Allison. “I’m the talker, the administration person. Mostly I’m the talker.’ Coach Dan said “Allison gets a lot of credit for really working these girls, but yeah anybody that knows me… I’m the talker.”
Hopefully his Lady Bucks can reach another playoff and advance even further in 2022.
