Scouting Northwest suburban girls tennis
MID-SUBURBAN EAST
Buffalo Grove
Coach: Kevin Schrammel
Last year's record: 13-3 (5-0)
Top players: Senior Nell Boyd; freshmen Dana and Lauren Goggin; Allie Wieland
Outlook: The Bison lost six seniors, including the state finalist doubles team Heather and Ashton Nisbet (Illinois State), who finished in sixth. The Bison finished in ninth as a team at state. Schrammel expects his team to take a sixth consecutive MSL East and possibly another trip to state.
Coach's comment: "(I stress) that you should practice how you play," Schrammel said. "You need to come to practice intense and with goals in mind as to what you want to work on that day. I stress to the girls that it is difficult to simply 'flip the switch,' and be able to play your best tennis if you haven't gotten used to practicing as if it were a match. I'm looking for my players with varsity experience to step up and set the tone."
Elk Grove
Coach: Kristen Harding
Last year's record: 2-12 (0-8)
Top Players: Seniors Dagmara Rodak and Kim Scharz; junior Kerry Trotter
Outlook: Harding expects Rodak at No. 1 singles to lead the Grenadiers toward the top of the MSL. Rodak took fifth place at the MSL tourney in 2009 and looks to improve. Harding hopes to speed up the playing experience and improve the Grenadiers record from 2009.
Coach's comment: "The important thing is to make practice fun, " Harding said. " We have a lot of depth. Our doubles need to work on communication, cross court returns, movement and moving together as a team. We need to stay consistent as a team."
Hersey
Coach: Sharon Meintzer
Last year's record: (6-6 conference)
Top players: Juniors Olivia Hirt, Nikki Pietro, Jen Hall, Meghan Griffin
Outlook: Meintzer enters her first year as head coach of the Huskies after coaching frosh/soph. Following a sixth-place finish in the conference tournament, the Huskies are in a rebuilding year. There are eight new players to a team with only four returning varsity players.
Coach's comment: "We are young, but eager to learn the strategies for this level of play," Meintzer said. "We are working on our mental game by conducting weekly team meetings. We must stick together on all obstacles to gain some ground this year. With such a span of talent, (togetherness) will gel our team so the athletes can feed off each other as the season progresses."
Prospect
Coach: Karie McClure
Last year's record: 8-3 (4-1)
Top Players: Junior Maggie Partridge; seniors Jackie Hertrich, Mary Clare Rosemeyer; sophomore Jordan Pollock
Outlook: The Knights finished second in the MSL East behind Buffalo Grove. They enjoyed a third-place finish in the MSL tournament behind only Barrington and Buffalo Grove. McClure expects to see the Knights picking up where they left off last season.
Coach's comment: "We're working on an overall goal to be aggressive and pressure the nets all the way down the lineup," McClure said. "If we finished in the top two or three spots (in the MSL), that would be great. Hopefully we can get some kids to state, since we hold the tournament. It's not how you start, its how you finish."
Rolling Meadows
Coach: Jim Gumz
Last year's record: 10-9 (2-3)
Top players: Freshmen Jackie and Allie Kemph; seniors Sara Shumaker and Abby Matayka
Outlook: The Mustangs have a relatively young team immersed with three returning varsity players and four sophomores. After a stellar fourth-place finish in conference last season, the Mustangs try to keep striving for more success with a better record this season.
Coach's comment: "We work on three things in practice: Improving stroke production, playing strategy and playing matches," Gumz said. "We're trying to get a lot of matches between them because a lot of the kids don't play during the summer. Right now we're experimenting with the lineup and they'll improve as the year goes on."
Wheeling
Coach: Jim Christopher
Last year's record: 7-8 (1-4)
Top players: Seniors Natalie Tanas and Kim Grunde; juniors Dani Bitout and Rachel Stefani
Outlook: The Wildcats lost their 2-3-4 doubles teams to graduation coming into the 2010 season. According to Christopher, this is a reloading season with a lot of high expectations placed on a younger cast.
Coach's comment: "Our goal is to move up in conference," Christopher said. "I tell the singles players to try and refine their ground strokes. We need the doubles to connect with two-thirds of the court and have communication. We had a good conference tournament last year. We medaled three of seven of our players."
MID-SUBURBAN WEST
Barrington
Coach: Tracy Waters-Miller
Last year's record: 12-3 (5-0)
Top Players: Senior Kristy Dodge; junior Zoe Kasuriak; sophomore Kate Allison; Heather Ciskowski
Outlook: The Fillies return to chase their 16th straight MSL title. In the 2009-10 season, the Fillies took fourth in state behind Hinsdale Central, Deerfield and Lake Forest. After losing their top two doubles teams, the Fillies look to repeat the same success they have accomplished since 1995. The team is led by Dodge, who placed fourth in state as a sophomore year and sixth in her junior year.
Coach's comment: "We've had some girls step up into top positions," Waters-Miller said. "You can't have depth if JV and frosh/soph aren't solid. We're stressing strategy of the game, mental toughness and team points trying to be smart. We want to make teams beat us. We certainly want to try and get to state again, but we have a tough schedule. All we can do is come to play aggressive."
Conant
Coach: Jennifer Mogge
Top players: Taylor Graham, Kerika Kranz, Marie Alvandi, Dana Lindquist and Natalia Migdal
Outlook: The Cougars lost nine seniors to graduation. Mogge stresses to her student-athletes to do the best they can in every match. She also works on strategy rather than the finesse.
Coach's comment: "(Our goal is) to do our best and have fun," Mogge said. "We may not always win our top matches, but I think as a team we will be able to win overall matches. The girls need to realize that every point counts."
Fremd
Coach: Lauren Hall
Top Players: Junior Shannon Segin; seniors Shannon Fitzgerald, Kendall Yoksulian
Outlook: Hall enters her first season as head coach for the Vikings. Hall, a 2006 graduate of Hersey, is impressed by the girls' hard work in camp and practice this season. Segin enters her second season as the No. 1 singles player.
Coach's comment: "We've been switching up the lineup," Hall said. "I think we'll be really strong this season. At the end of the season, I will emphasize playing year round. We have a lot of hard matches in non-conference. It will be great practice for conference play. It will be tough, but a great experience for the girls."
Hoffman Estates
Coach: Greg Rouse
Last year's record: 6-11 (0-5)
Top Players: Freshman Courtney Lang; seniors Amrutha Bhatt, Miko Matsubara
Outlook: The Hawks return four players with varsity experience. With the addition of Lang into the No. 1 singles slot, the Hawks become instantly stronger. Rouse looks to the experience of Bhatt and Matsubara to lead the underclassmen to a more successful season.
Coach's comment: "We have some pretty good athletes," Rouse said. "I just would like to see some consistency this season. If you use the right strategy and you still lose, I'm happy for that. We want to build from last year onto this season."
Palatine
Coach: Anita Lee
Last year's record: 10th in MSL
Top players: Seniors Jenna Herr and Lauren Pettersen
Outlook: The Pirates wait for the doctor's results after Herr went down with a leg injury early in the season. Lee sees great potential in the team approaching the young season.
Coach's comment: "We're trying harder to have the girls think of the score, by using skill development and different strategies," Lee said. "The girls know every person on this team is vitally important. We have great experience and work out of the top players that trickle down and affect the whole program."
Schaumburg
Coach: Jason Campbell
Last year's record: 7-12 (3-5)
Top Players: Sophomores Monica Lin, Katie McClure; seniors Claire Light, Suhki Sandhu
Outlook: Sophomore No. 1 singles player Lin returns to the Saxons and improves the team into more of a contender in the MSL West. The Saxons graduated six seniors last season. Seniors from junior varsity have moved to the next level and have received experience through every match. During the beginning of the season, McClure was the No. 1 singles starter until Lin returned. McClure will now join the No. 1 doubles team.
Coach's comment: "The Saxons are looking forward to competitive play in the West this year and a challenging weekend invite schedule," Campbell said. "We are excited about having several girls who have moved up the varsity lineup. The emphasis of the last two years is conditioning, long matches and practice. I want to see consistency before power."
ESCC
St. Viator
Coach: Dan Tripamer
Top Players: Megan Thompson, Natalie Cataldo
Outlook: The Lions have four returning seniors to go with eight juniors. Tripamer rejoins the team after taking a year off for personal obligations. The Lions graduated five senior starters from the 2009 season.
Coach's comment: "I would say that we're in the rebuilding years," Tripamer said. "We have no JV team and have nice prospects from the frosh/soph. The juniors are beginning to figure things out at this level. We're trying to get better every match."
WSC GOLD
Leyden
Coach: Bob Smith
Last year's record: 10-4 (4-2)
Top Players: Seniors Kornelia Nowaczyk, Ashley Barrera, Yaritza Mendez, Claire Neri; junior Adrianna Sanchez
Outlook: The Eagles lost seven seniors to graduation. The addition of No. 1 singles player Nowaczyk, a nationally ranked senior from Poland, strengthens the already stellar Eagles' squad. Barrera moves from No. 1 singles to No. 2 with the arrival of Nowaczyk. Barrera finished fourth in the West Suburban behind two state ranked players.
Coach's comment: "Our goal is to get some girls downstate," Smith said. "Hinsdale (Central) and Downers Grove South are hard in our conference. Our focus is serving and giving free points on our double faults. We need to keep the ball in play longer. We have more depth and balance at the top, even more than last year. We're working hard to improve."
CSL NORTH
Maine West
Coach: Neal Sipkovsky
Last year's record: 6-8 (1-4)
Top Players: Junors Beth Schaefer, Jordan Eshafi and Cara Franke; senior Jamie Duckmann
Outlook: The Warriors return to action after losing nine seniors while returning only four starting players. With a strong conference including the likes of Niles North and Deerfield, Sipkovsky focuses on non-conference victories to help the players improve for Central Suburban League play.
Coach's comment: "We look to improve our consistency and effort," Sipkovsky said. "When the focus wanes, we want to overcome deficiencies with energy and effort. We want to bring it everyday and outwork our opponent. I'm pretty encouraged by our front four players, which I think will be an advantage."