2012 Morning Journal Tennis Preview: Tennis Capsules

By STEVE WALKER
swalker@MorningJournal.com

Southwestern Conference

Amherst: The Comets have a new coach in Rich Robbins ... Natalie Keron, Elizabeth Sturges, Andrea Hama, Sarah Souders, Macy Szucs and Brandi Nowlin are key returners this season. Nowlin, Sturges and Szucs are expected to play doubles ... The team went 5-5 last season ... Szucs, Souders and Keron are the expected leaders ... Despite being a young team, Robbins expects the team could finish as high as third place in the SWC this season.

Avon Lake: Christine Dieken, formerly Christine Chiricosta, is in her second year as head coach at her alma matter. She is also a Bowling Green graduate, where she holds quite a few records in tennis. She was a three-time Academic All-American and four-time All Mid-American Conference ... The Shoregals return their top player Erin Hrivnak, a junior who was an All-SWC First Teamer last season as a sophomore and took second at the LCAAA. Hrivnak’s only loss in the SWC was to Westlake’s Lauren Golick ... Jamie Carpenter returns and most likely will play at second singles. She played first doubles last season and was one spot away from qualifying for districts. She also had a second-place showing in the LCAAA last season ... Briana Makadia, a sophomore, may play third singles this season. She also played doubles last season and took second at the LCAAA and third in the SWC Tournament ... Rachel Johnson, a freshman, and Maya Wanner, a sophomore, could contribute on the varsity this season.

Westlake: The Demons were the No. 1 team in the state last season and should return with their top player Lauren Golick, who is now a senior. Golick has been to state three times and has placed all three times ... Head coach Ralph Dunbar’s daughter Julia Dunbar returns for her second season playing singles. She played doubles her freshman season and even made it to state last season, playing with partner Michelle Djohan, who graduated ... Melissa Djohan, Michelle’s sister, returns for her sophomore season ... Lauren Golick has a younger sister Lindsey Golick, who will be a freshman.

Others: Berea, Brecksville, Midpark, North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls.

Northeast Ohio Conference

Elyria: The Pioneers went 8-4 last season ... Angela Rodriguez, Amelia Williams and Kari Wonder are key returners this season. Rodriguez and Williams will play first and second singles this year. Williams played first singles last year. Wonder will play first doubles this year after playing second singles last season ... Courtney Green, a sophomore, will be expected to help the Pioneers this season ... Marie Masters and Holly Howser will not return this season. They want to concentrate on academics ... The Pioneers will bring up four junior varsity players to fill the void of losing four players ... Twinsburg is expected to win the conference.

Others: Mentor, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Stow-Munroe Falls, Twinsburg.

West Shore Conference

Avon: Carolyn Hughes is the new head coach for the Eagles. Hughes owns the North Ridge Racquet Club in North Ridgeville ... Madisyn Rini, Halle Mentlar, Abby Schwartz, Annie DeLuca and Melissa Cirilo are all returning letter winners this season ... Avon would like to repeat as the LCAAA champions after winning it last year over Avon Lake ... They also won their first ever WSC championship, and had a district qualifier in Carmela Mostardi, who graduated ... Maddie Nakon is an incoming freshman that could make an impact this season.

Bay: The Rockets went 12-8 last season, inlcuding 5-1 in the WSC, good for second place ... Dave Peters enters his 13th season as head coach of the Rockets. He’s had a state champion in singles and three state qualifiers in doubles ... Katie Quillin was a state qualifier last season in doubles in Division II with Lauren Chen, who graduated. Quillen will play at first singles this season ... Rannie Dong, a three-year letter winner and a senior co-captain, will play second singles and doubles as well ... Maranda Neuendorf will also play singles, along with Paige Aleksandovic. Neuendorf is also a senior co-captain ... Jenny Salim, Laura Stevens, Lauren Kapes and Haley Hansen will rotate at doubles. All four girls were letter winners last season.

Elyria Catholic: The Panthers have a new coach in Denise Corts, who was formerly an assistant coach on the basketball team ... The Panthers return four seniors in Erika Emling, Katie Lester, Megan Pack and Michi Palich. Emling, a four-year starter, will play first singles after playing second singles last season. Lester, Pack and Palich will play doubles. Pack will play some singles too ... Other returning players include Bridget Buchs, a sophomore that plays singles and doubles, and Julia Carriccio, a three-year player that may play second singles this season ... Lauren Morgan (Jr.), Rachel Stevens (So.), Rachel Kozma (Jr.) and Lauren Opalnik (So.) are all newcomers to the team this season ... Sierra Burkey and Anastasia Rainbow are both incoming freshman to the team this year.

Midview: The Middies have a new girls coach in Christine Gipson and assistant coach Dan Smith, who formerly was the Elyria head coach ... Midview snapped a 3-year losing streak last season and won two matches over Lorain and Vermilion. They hadn’t won a team match since 2008 ... Rachel Pickering returns for her junior season. She has been No. 1 singles the last two seasons ... Danielle Smith, a senior, and Payal Patel, a junior, also are key returning players.

North Ridgeville: The Rangers went 2-10 last season ... They return two letter winners in Jordan Reitknecht, a senior, and Taylor Wishner, a sophomore. Reitknecht is a three-year letter winner and will play first singles this season. Wishner played third singles as a freshman last season ... Monique Mihalski, Carol Yun, Lauren Marflake, Megan O’Neill, Tabitha McCloskey, Savannah Heck and Autumn Bronker are other players to watch this season ... Katie Berry and Kaitlyn Heck are new to the team this season and are eager for competition.

Vermilion: The Sailors try to rebound from an 0-14 season (0-6 WSC). Head coach Jo Ann Howley is excited about the team, saying they are young, but enthusiastic and will grow stronger as the season progresses ... They only have one senior in Elizabeth Buchanan, who will play second doubles. She went 2-11 last year ... Juniors Natalie Wilson and Kristen Anglin also return. Wilson will play first singles, while Anglin will play first doubles ... Also returning are Summer Rogier, a junior, and Fiona Gibbons, a sophomore.

Others: Rocky River, Lakewood.

Northern Ohio League

Norwalk: The Truckers went 12-5 overall and 6-4 in the NOL, good for third place ... They return four seniors, including Aubrey Cook, Kelsey Talkington, Kayla Pelham and Hannah Herner ... Cook went 22-8 last season, playing second singles. She was also a district qualifier, along with being an All-NOL Second Teamer ... Talkington went 19-7 last season, playing third singles ... Pelham and Herner went 15-13, playing first doubles last season. They were also district qualifiers ... Sophomore Lauren Ott and junior Sara Stoll will probably play at second doubles this season. Ott went 7-2 as a freshman last season.

Sandusky: The Blue Streaks have a new coach in Kristina Buck, who graduated from Sandusky in 2009 and is currently a Bowling Green student ... Sandusky hasn’t won a tennis match since the 2010 season ... Melanie Murray, a sophomore, and Hannah Lang, a junior, are the top two players returning this season.

Others: Willard, Bellevue, Shelby, Tiffin Columbian.

Sandusky Bay Conference

Edison: The Chargers have no seniors on the team this season. They have eight juniors, six sophomores and one freshman ... Morgan Schaeffer and Karyn Schmidt, both juniors, are the top returning players. Schaeffer played first singles, while Schmidt played second singles last season. Last season, they joined forces in sectionals and placed third in doubles, making them the first girls from Edison to qualify for districts ... Taylor Schnellinger, a junior, got a lot of experience playing doubles last season and will probably play first doubles this season ... Sydney Jansen and Julia Pruchnicky, both sophomores, will probably play doubles this season. Both got experience in singles and doubles last year ... Victoria Graemes, a junior, could also contribute on the varsity this season.

Huron: The Tigers went 13-3 overall last season, and 10-2 in the SBC, good for an SBC championship. Coach Jeff Skaggs is excited about his team’s chances of defending their championship. However, he also insists that the SBC is very competitively balanced ... The Tigers return seniors Brittany Mayer, Erin Black and Carolyn Stierhoff ... Mayer was a district qualifier last season and a All-SBC First Teamer ... Black was an All-SBC Second Teamer ... Stierhoff will play first doubles with junior Lily Justus.

Perkins: The Pirates have seven returning letter winners from last season. The team went 12-5 last season and finished in second place in the SBC ... Head coach John Schlessman can win his 100th match this season. He is currently 89-52, which includes two SBC championships (2006, 2008) ... Keli Daugherty, a senior, and Sarah Sullivan, a junior, shared the No. 1 position last season ... Kim Anglin, Jenna Goretzki, Taylor Hayes, McKenzie Streng and Carlee Vaughn also return ... All seven letter winners will be vying for positions. Schlessman boasts a very flexible line up and plans to build on last year’s second-place finish.

St. Mary: Inga Powell returns for her third season as head coach. Her first season the Panthers finished second to last in the SBC, but last season they finished in second place ... The Panthers return five key players, including Noelle DeRiso, Collette DeRiso, Makenna Myers, Keeleigh Myers and Giselle Spadaro. Noelle, who was an All-SBC Second Teamer, will probably play at first singles this season. Makenna is also a three-year letter winner ... Lexi McCabe, a junior, and Emma McCabe, a freshman, are the third set of sisters on the team. The DeRisos and Myers are the other two.

Others: Port Clinton, Oak Harbor, Clyde and Margaretta.

Independents

Lake Ridge: The Lions went 7-6 last season and return a lot of seniors and juniors with varsity experience ... Coach Sean Hicks is excited about this year’s team. All his seniors have played together for four years and have gone through the hard learning curves as freshmen and sophomores. He expects them to show what kind of players they’ve become ... Rachel Rice, Olivia Miraldi, Alex Ridel and Tori Bandyopadhyay are the top four players returning this season. Rice plays singles, while Miraldi, Ridel and Bandyopadhyay play doubles ... Anjiani Kapodia, Sara Al-Haddad, Marissa Beals and Taylor Soto are also returning. Kapodia and Al-Haddad play doubles, while Beals and Soto play singles.

Last Updated: 8/14/2012 9:52:44 PM EST