The first class that Michael Geller saw through as Highland girls’ tennis coach from their freshman year will walk across the stage and leave Highland High School forever in less than a month.

Three of those players – Allie Fuller, Maggie VanValkenburgh and Rebecca Ness – will continue to play the sport at the collegiate level and made their commitments official at a signing ceremony on May 31 in the Highland High School gymnasium.

Fuller, who played first singles for the Huskies this year, and was the Mid Hudson Athletic league runner-up, will attend St. Lawrence University in Canton, where she plans to study neuroscience with hopes to continue into medical school.

“One of the big things was definitely tennis, but the school is pretty good.” Fuller said. “It was between Binghamton and St. Lawrence, but tennis and the school’s value of what it had to offer me, just tipped it.”

VanValkenburgh played second singles for the Huskies this year and advanced to the MHAL quarterfinals, earning a berth in the Section 9 tournament. She will attend Hartwick College and plans to study nursing and Spanish.

She had been playing tennis for most of her life, before coming to the Highland varsity when she was in eighth grade and since then has become passionate about the sport.

“I think most of that is because of (Geller),”

VanValkenburgh said. “He taught me a lot about the game and a lot about being a team player, also. My junior year, I started looking to play tennis at different colleges, and Hartwick was the one that had the best fit for both my academic and athletic careers.”

Ness played first doubles with Mackenzie Mason this year, finishing third in the MHAL tournament. They were eliminated from the sectional quarterfinals. She will attend Farmingdale State on Long Island, where she intends to become a professional pilot.

“That major is very selective,” Ness said. “It’s not very common, and so when searching schools that have that major and a tennis team, Farmingdale was the only school that came up within a 10-hour distance or something like that. So, it seemed like a good option.”

The signing ceremony while celebratory for the Huskies’ girls’ tennis program, VanValkenburgh said it was a bittersweet moment as all three seniors have known each other – and have played tennis all their lives.

As they sat at the signing table, the bond between the three seniors was evident.

“All the girls on the team are so great, and we’re all so close,” Ness said. “We’re all friends and especially during the season, we’re all just always hanging out. I’ve known Maggie and Allie my whole life and being able to play with them and now going off on our separate ways, but still doing the same thing is just so great.”

Geller just completed his fifth year coaching the boys’ tennis team. He just finished his fourth as the coach of the girls’ team for four years. Each of them gave Geller a t-shirt representing the college they will attend this fall.

“When I first started coaching them four years ago, I really didn’t know what to expect,” Geller said. “That was my first time really getting to know a lot of the girls – Maggie, Allie and Becca – and, with any program, you want to build a foundation, and I think they did that. They brought new girls to the team. They always brought good energy to practices, and they always worked hard trying to get better, but also have a lighter side and have fun.”

They’ve all played their last tennis matches for Highland months ago, but it’s clear they will miss their coach and the bonds they formed over the course of a lifetime.

“The fall is when we have our season, and that’s definitely been one of my favorite times of the school year,” Fuller said. “All of our practices have been kind of laid back and relaxed, but we still have gotten to where we wanted to go. That time has just been so much fun, so I’ll definitely be missing that.”