GIRLS TENNIS: Clarkston should engage in dogfight to defend D-1 state crown

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

CLARKSTON — In some ways, Clarkston will enter the Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls tennis state finals with a target on their collective backs. After all, the Wolves are the defending Division 1 state champs in girls tennis.

Beckie Freeman doesn’t necessarily see it that way.

Freeman, the Wolves’ fourth-year head coach who helped guide Clarkston to its first-ever D-1 state title last season, believes her team is one of a small handful that could claim this weekend’s top prize and that there is no clear-cut favorite with a target on their backs. Clarkston was the heavy favorite last season.

“I don’t think we’ll have a target. This is a new year and I think there are four really good teams this year,” offered Freeman.

Port Huron Northern enters Friday’s opening rounds ranked No. 1 in the state. The Huskies have defeated Clarkston 5-3 twice in a pair of tournaments this season. Clarkston is ranked No. 2, while Grosse Pointe South (No. 3) and Ann Arbor Pioneer (No. 4) also have stacked lineups.

KNOCKOUT BLOW: Clarkston's Paige Olsen delivers this serve during No.2 doubles play at the recent Division 1 Rochester Adams regional. File Photo

“Realistically, I see four teams as having a shot at it,” said Freeman, whose Wolves have qualified in nine of the past 10 seasons. “We have seen the other three teams at least once apiece at tournaments and some more than once. Port Huron Northern and Grosse Pointe South are very good and Pioneer is always very good. You can never count them out.”

Clarkston recently finished ahead of Grosse Pointe South at a tournament. The Wolves, 17-3-1 in dual matches, shared the overall OAA Red Division title with Birmingham Seaholm this season, tied for first at the Holly Red and White Tournament and placed second at the Ann Arbor Pioneer Invitational.

“We’ve played a lot of the top teams,” noted Freeman. “We play in a great league and we’ve played a lot of great teams in tournaments to help us prepare for this weekend.”

Clarkston only graduated two players out of their state finals team of a year ago, but had to shuffle its lineup in March when senior Gabriella Spindler, a state semifinalist at No. 1 singles last season, opted to forgo her senior year to concentrate on her entrance into the West Pointe Academy.

STRATEGY SESSION: Clarkston's Paige Olsen and Olivia Dunn talk things over during their recent No.2 doubles regional finals match at Rochester Adams. File Photo

The Wolves furthered shuffled their lineup in mid-April after a slow start. Clarkston has been rolling ever since the lineup change.

“We kind of started slow, but our losses came early in the year before we changed our lineup,” said Freeman. “We have played a lot better since we made those changes.”

Entering the state tournament, the Wolves easily won the recent Rochester Adams regional by scoring 30 points. Clarkston gained seeds in six of the eight flights for this weekend’s state finals held at the Midland Community Tennis Center.

“We have been pretty fortune (in the past decade) to have a lot of high-level players,” said Freeman.

Katie Brozovich (No. 1 singles) opens as the No. 2 seed, while Lexy Baylis (No. 2 singles, top seed), Paige Olsen (No. 3 singles, second seed) and Abby Hubregson (No. 4 singles, sixth seed) all have high seeds in the singles flights.

Over in doubles, the duo of Paige Olsen and Olivia Dunn (No. 1 doubles) open as the second seed, while the No. 4 doubles tandem of Monique Zetner and Katie Hubgreson also drew a No. 2 seed in their flight.

Clarkston qualified for the state finals in 2003 after nearly a 20-year absence. The Wolves have qualified every year since except for 2009, when they finished third at the regional behind West Bloomfield and Rochester with 17 points and missed qualifying by only one point.

Clarkston did have its No.1 singles player reached the state finals that season, who collected four points to help the Wolves finish 14^th overall. Clarkston has finished no lower than 14^that the D-1 state finals since 2003 (see chart below).

FULL FORCE: Clarkston's Katie Brozovich is one of the state's top singles players and she earned the second seed in the No.1 singles flight for this weekend's Division 1 state finals. File Photo.

“We have been blessed with a lot of good players,” said Freeman, who noted that Dear Lake Tennis Club in one of a handful of clubs that has consistently fed Clarkston some quality players in the past decade. “Right now we seem to have a very solid lineup top to bottom. We do lose (four) girls off this year’s team, but we have some players coming up that I hope will keep us up here in contention.”

HOW THEY FARED AT THE STATE FINALS IN THE PAST DECADE:

CLARKSTON

2012 To be determined.

2011 (D-1, first, 27 points)

2010 (D-1, seventh, 14 points)

2009* (D-1, 14^th, four points; only had No.1 singles player qualify for state).

2008 (D-1, eighth, 10 points)

Season switch from fall to spring, with no fall 2007 season.

2006 (D-1, seventh, 14 points)

2005 (D-1, fifth, 16 points)

2004 (D-1, fourth, 20 points)

2003 (D-1, 14^th, three points)

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