Top ‘Cats Ready to Make Another Racket

Weston girls tennis head coach Bill Steinroeder will only call it “challenging” for his team to get back to where it was last spring. Then again, it’s always tough to win a championship, which is what the Wildcats did in taking the Division 3 North title last season. The Wildcats defeated Hopedale, 4-1, to win the crown, after edging Dover-Sherborn, 3-2, in the state semifinals. And they did it in Steinroeder’s first year at the helm, no less.

But what Steinroeder means is that it will be an even tougher task to win it all when you consider Weston lost some of its top talent to graduation and also plays in the highly competitive Dual County League.

Weston made the postseason last year with 9-7 record, which put them on the low end of the state tourney’s rankings. But considering the strong competition in their league, the Wildcats made a very good showing in the regular season. If Weston wasn’t playing in such a skilled circuit, it mostly likely would have had a better record and therefore a better seeding. Since the Wildcats, at times, play less talented teams in the tourney than they do in the regular season, it puts them in good position to make a strong tourney run. In last year's case, Weston went 6-0 in the postseason, finishing 15-7 overall. Including the tourney, the Wildcats win streak reached eight at the end of the campaign.

But the difficult part for Weston is to qualify in the first place. Many of the DCL teams play in  Division 2, while Weston competes in Division 3. The mix of higher and lower division teams in the same league allows the lower Division teams to qualify for the state tourney if they play at a .500 or better mark in their leagues or finish atop their own division. Last year, Weston didn’t win out in the DCL Small, but it had a better than .500 ledger in the league.

“Our goal is to make the postseason. We need at least a .500 record in the Dual County League or be the best team in in the [DCL] Small Division,” Steinroeder said, noting strong divisional opponents include Concord-Carlisle and Westford Academy. “The competition in the Dual County League is very strong.”

As of this writing, Weston was still looking forward to challenge matches to figure what alignment will work best, but the Wildcats will make their bid for the postseason this spring with strong veteran and new talent.

While Weston lost its No. 1 singles star, Abby Clark, to graduation last spring, the Wildcats return a solid potential No. 1 player in senior tri-captain Allison Hupalo, who played in the No. 2 slot last year, and finished with a stunning 19-1 record.

Both Hupalo and Clark , who went 18-1 last season, are members of the renowned United States Tennis Association (USTA).  Praising both players, Steinroeder said, “We were very solid at No. 1 and 2 last year.”

Hupalo’s fellow captains, senior Nicole Brenner and junior Olivia Stranberg, figure to play doubles, after impressing last season.

Senior Naomi Garlick, meanwhile, will likely join the singles circuit, after playing on the top doubles team last year with graduated senior Brooke Elman. Garlick went 10-3 in doubles play, and won eight straight matches with Elman at the end of the season.

Sophomore Deniz Cataltepe joins Hupalo and Garlick as the only returning starters from last spring. She is likely to remain playing singles, after shining in the third slot last year with a 5-5 ledger.

Brenner could form a starting doubles team with senior Dale Ziobro, as both played some varsity matches last year, and finished 1-1 as a pair.

Junior Ashley Burke and sophomores Julia Braginsky and Perri Keehn also join the varsity squad after playing junior varsity last spring. Burke and Braginski will compete in the doubles circuit, while Keene could play either singles or doubles.

Sophomores Brianna Ryan and Hillary Greenberg, and freshmen Laura Greenberg, Kristen Sands, and Caitlyn Shea will also be competing for spots.

In addition to Clark and Elman, the Wildcats will miss the services of fellow graduated standouts Nicola Braginsky and Jenn Sieber, who played second doubles.

 Weston will open the season at Waltham on April 13.