A tradition for the Girls Varsity Tennis team is heading to Ann Arbor Pioneer for their annual invitational.
The Lady Wolves broke tradition by winning the tournament, scoring 22 out of 24 possible points on Saturday.
“They are playing up to their potential,” said Coach Becky Freeman. “I am very proud of their performances.”
The girls finished with first place and second place medals.They also beat Pioneer, 6-2.
“It was nice to go there and have the girls win the tournament on Pioneer’s home turf,” Freeman said, adding Pioneer is currently ranked in third place in the state and Clarkston is in second place.
Pioneer finished in second place with 16 points; Saline in third place, 9 points; and Allen Park in fourth, 0 points.
The girls scored two more wins during the week with a defeat over Cranbrook Kingswood, 5-3, and West Bloomfield, 8-0.
They began April 20 against Cranbrook in a close match-up for the double teams Amy Wozniak and Abbey Hubregsen and Olivia Dunn and Allie Wilson as they went into a third set to break their ties but ended with two losses.
“The victory could have been larger,” said Freeman. “Work still needs to be done.”
For the day, Gabriella Spindler beat Alexandria Najarian, 6-4, 6-1; Lexi Baylis beat Natasha Dabrowski, 6-1, 6-2; Katie Brozovich beat Kendra Sweet, 6-3, 6-0; and Kristina Lucas defeated Liz Baiardi, 6-1, 6-1. For doubles, Paige and Dana Olsen beat Rachael Hubers and Alissa Rowens, 6-2, 6-3.
The doubles dominated on Thursday scoring wins against West Bloomfield, leaving their visitors scoreless.
“Mentally they really wanted this win,” said Freeman. “West Bloomfield has always has a really strong team and the girls wanted to come prepared and they did it.”
For singles, Spindler beat Yasha Moore, 6-1, 6-3; Baylis beat Morgan Taylor, 6-2, 6-3; Brozovich beat Kyra Shink, 6-0. 6-0; and Lucas beat Hannah Shink, 6-0, 6-0.
For doubles, the Olsen sisters beat Laurel Ruza and Sammy Dean, 6-2, 6-4; Hubregsen and Wozniak beat Jill Friedman and Meaganna Subramanian, 6-3, 6-1; Dunn and Wilson beat Ankita Ajjampur and Amjama Nair, 6-0, 6-0; and Anna Gencay and Monique Zentner beat Sarah Langnas and Kayla Trexler, 6-4, 6-2.
“Every doubles team performed great,” Freeman added. “Our third doubles team, with Dunn and Wilson, beat them 0 and 0 which is solid.”
The girls prepare for another busy week as they host Novi on Wednesday and Seaholm on Thursday.
“We are confident on a couple matches,” said Freeman. “We are still a work in progress so nothing is ever a given. The girls confidence is higher after this week. We had a good week.”
They are anticipating a great match against Novi, after the Wildcats finished higher than them last year in the state rankings.
“A win against them would be great,” Freeman added. “They lost a few key players in their singles lineup but I don’t know what they are bringing in. Look at us, for example, with three brand new freshmen that are really good.”
Both matches start at 4:30 p.m. at the high school tennis courts. If weather conditions are unsuitable for playing outside, the girls will compete at Deer Lake Athletic Club.