LANGLEY — The machine is relentless.

Every seven seconds it pumps out a little yellow ball and, unless the feeder bin is empty, it never stops.

And defending South Whidbey 2A state tennis champion Riley Newman wouldn’t have it any other way.

As the hot sun baked the high school tennis court surface Monday, Newman hit back hundreds of balls as he struggled with a new stroke, the backhand volley.

“I want you to stay casual, even though you’re executing one of the toughest shots in tennis,” Falcon coach Tom Kramer told him.

Newman took two short steps forward to the net, then back-handed the ball. Then he did it again, over and over, to the metronomic rhythm of the relentless ball machine and the encouragement of his coach.

In two weeks, Newman travels to the University of Washington to attempt a second state tennis title.

And he knows who is waiting for him on the court in Seattle.

Sehome’s Will Topp remains the man to beat, something Newman has done with regularity, most recently in a 6-3, 6-4 match at district playoffs in October.

“There are a number of players at state that could win it all,” Kramer cautioned. “Will Topp happens to be one of them. Each match is a new challenge.”

One year ago, Newman prevailed in a near-marathon battle — 2 hours, 10 minutes — against Topp 7-5, 6-3 to win his first championship in boys 2A tennis.

On May 28, it’s time to do it again.

The biggest problem for Newman is that boys tennis is in the fall, so after a winter hiatus playing basketball, he has to find partners to play against.

David Price, whose son Harrison is a member of the Falcon championship golf team, has played against Newman for years.

“He usually cleans my clock,” Price said with a laugh. “I’ve noticed he’s become a lot more aggressive than in the past, his volleying has improved and he’s going to the net and controlling the points.”

Riley said he likes to play against different partners because it keeps him off balance.

“It prevents me from getting too mechanical in my serves and volleys, and too complacent in my attitude,” he said.

He said that his style has changed as he’s matured.

“Last year, I let the ground strokes come to me, but now I’m moving forward and getting to the ball early,” he explained.

Kramer said that Newman is working on the anticipation of exploiting possible weaknesses in any opponent he faces.

“We want to take advantage of any given situation,” the coach said. “The challenge for Riley is to get ready to play well at state. Anything else is mere speculation.”

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or jvanderford@whidbeynewsgroup.com.