Surprises Guide South Tennis to State Finals

It’s been a year of surprises for the Blue Devils girls tennis team.

Surprise No. 1? A freshman playing first singles.

Surprise No. 2? A doubles team that is seeded No. 1 in the state playoffs.

Surprise No. 3? Five ties against top-ranked teams.

That’s a lot of surprises for one team–especially one that was considered to be going into a “rebuilding” year.

“I guess you could say I’m pleasantly surprised,” said Grosse Pointe South coach Mark Sobieralski. “We lost a lot of seniors last year so I thought we would be solid but not really spectacular. To finish the season like we have, well, that’s pretty amazing.”

Grosse Pointe South finished the year 6-1-5–racking up an impressive number of ties.

“I think, before this season, I had four ties ever on my record,” Sobieralski said. “We got five in one year, that’s unheard of.”

Sobieralski said that a number of those ties were against top-ranked teams.

“Three of our ties were against top teams, so that gives us a boost,” he said.

Sobieralski admits that poor weather in the beginning of the season was a concern for his squad–one that didn’t end up hurting them, however.

“We never lost any matches or anything because of the weather,” he said. “Sure it was a factor, but it ultimately wasn’t one that really hurt us.”

Senior captains Julie Wittwir and Emma Hyde led the Cavaliers, a duo that is going into the state finals seeded No. 1 in the state.

“They were really great this year,” Sobieralski said. “They led this team both on and off the court.”

Freshman Brooke Willard also was a standout for the team, coming out of nowhere to snag the first singles position and playing solidly all year.

“We did so much better than I thought was possible at the beginning of the season,” Sobieralski said. “We had lost so many seniors that I thought it might be a little tougher of a season for us.

“We came out and were so tough, though, that now I think we’re sitting pretty good going into next season,” he said.

With his squad leaving for the Division 1 state finals Thursday, Sobieralski says he thinks they have  a good run ahead of them. The finals take place Friday and Saturday in Midland.

“I don’t see us winning it but I’m hoping to finish in the top five as a team,” he said. “I think that’s doable and it would be a great accomplishment for this team.”