The girls tennis team is still growing and with that comes growing pains – mainly in the form of their loss to Notre Dame Prep on May 10.
The girl’s didn’t go down without a fight however and most matches were competitively close. However loses in the singles category, outside of sophomore Lou Debis solid win, led to the overall fall.
Besides Debis, Lake Orion’s junior Elena Kovac (pictured) and senior Hannah Young took their #2 doubles match while sophomores Kelsey Corless and Melanie Gagan took their # 3 double match. The other two person team matches went to Notre Dame.
Head Coach Eric Bracciano said the Fighting Irish were more skilled and had more seasoned players, but that didn’t stop Orion from taking some of the matches.
‘They were just a little more skilled than us and they had more year round players,? he said. ‘They’re young but they have a lot of experience.?
Bracciano said the team would work on a number of different skills to improve, including volleys and return serves.
He made note of a number of players who were beginning to stand out, including Debis in #1 singles who is a German foreign exchange student and is now 8-7 on the year. He also noted Corless and Gagan who have ‘really been coming up? and improved considerably.
The team is now 4-7-1 overall, 0-6-1 in their league, but Bracciano is hopeful for the future.
‘We only lost four girls this year so next year we’re going to be stronger,? he said. ‘we also started a middle school tennis team so that will only help. Some 20 kids came out for the middle school team and that’s encouraging.?
The team played in a tournament on Saturday and will play in their regional finals this Friday in Rochester. Bracciano said Clarkston should offer stiff competition as they are number three in the state currently and were ranked number one in the state earlier in the season. He believes Orion will finish somewhere near the middle of the 11 team playoffs, with Clarkston and Rochester Adams near the top.