Young Tiger Tennis Team Looks for Another Winning Season

The situation in the pre-season this fall for the Oakville girls tennis team is very similar to last year.

Tiger coach Linda Gebauer hopes that the results are also similar.

Oakville had its first winning season in many years in 2010 with nine victories and only seven losses.

"That was totally unexpected since we only had three starters returning from our top 10," Gebauer said. "We had a lot of new kids to the varsity team and they really stepped up their play."

There are even more new players on this year's Oakville team as Gebauer returns just a pair of players from the top 10.

The Tigers will certainly miss players such as Kristina Lupo, who was the district singles champion.

Senior Niki Hudacek actually shared time at No. 1 last fall with Lupo and will start the season there this fall. Hudacek made it to the semifinals in the district singles competition.

"Niki is a very steady and consistent player," Gebauer said.

Senior Holly Sanazaro is the only other returning varsity starter and she played at No. 3 doubles. She will likely have to make a big jump in the lineup.

Sophomores Abby Bergman and Carly Lanfersieck are other returnees with varsity experience. They spent most of the season on the junior varsity but each played in three varsity matches last year as freshmen.

The Tigers have a freshman this year that should make an immediate impact. Emily Bartz-Mills comes into the program with a tennis background and should play near the top of the singles lineup.

"We have some holes to fill," Gebauer said. "I just hope that they can step up like the girls did last year and hope to build on what those girls accomplished. I hope we can be competitive in every match we play."

Oakville, which will again play all of its matches on the road, opened 2011 campaign Aug. 22 at Ritenour. The team won that contest as well as their match against University City. The Tigers face Rockwood Summit Tuesday at 4 p.m.