Campolindo Girls Tennis Preview: Cougars Defined by Depth, Toughness

School: Campolindo

Sport: Girls tennis

Coach: Steve Robinson

2009 record: 17-4

Key returners: Nicole Wedlake, senior, singles; Donne Nefdt, senior, doubles; Natalie Korich, junior, singles and doubles; Karina Lameramer, junior, doubles; Miranda Hill, sophomore, singles and doubles.

Top newcomers: Rachel Kelley, junior; Madeline Clark, sophomore; Molly Pines, sophomore; Emily Orwig, freshman; Sydney Stone, freshman.

Quote: "This team always has such heart that you expect them to pull it out one way or another." -assistant coach Cindy Raleigh

Website: www.campotennis.com

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The Campolindo girls tennis team is built from the bottom up.

Though they lack elite-level talent, the Cougars have singles depth and strong doubles pairings, which they expect to be enough to continue the success they enjoyed in 2009. 

"I don't think we have any superstars, but we really have a lot of good depth," said coach Steve Robinson. "We'll win a lot of the lower singles matches and we really count on our doubles players."

The Cougars went 17-4 last year to finish second in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League and qualify for the North Coast Section playoffs, where they lost to Amador Valley in the first round. They lose seven seniors from a 20-player roster, but return five players who were all-league in 2009.

While opponents may boast USTA-ranked singles players at the top of their rosters, Campolindo has focused in recent years on developing strong doubles play.

"We've always been very strong in doubles, because we put a lot of focus and effort into into," Robinson said. "That's gotten us through a lot of matches. A lot of times we can get two out of three or a sweep in doubles."

Team matches typically consist of six singles matches and three doubles matches, becoming essentially a best-of-nine series. Senior Nicole Wedlake, who was first-team all-DFAL in 2009, returns as the number one singles player. Other singles standouts include senior Donne Nefdt and junior Natalie Korich, who took a break from singles to win the DFAL doubles championship with Sarah Holden last season.

And while coaches recognize that it's too early to gauge the quality this year's team will be, they expect toughness and cohesion to help compensate for a lack of top-flight talent.

"This team always shows such heart, that you always expect them to pull it out one way or another," assistant coach Cindy Raleigh said.

"We're all so vocal, and we really cheer each other on," junior Karina Lameraner said. "We're really close as a team, and it helps."

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