ROSSFORD — Rossford girls tennis returns four letter winners in seniors Sofia Sizemore, Amy Claypool, Samantha Maenle, and Rileigh Clair.
First-year coach Justin Carmack hopes that the experience they earned can help the Bulldogs improve from their 3-13 dual meet record last year.
Carmack coached at Toledo Waite six years, leading them to the 2023 Toledo City League championship, only the school’s second girls tennis championship in school history.
The Northern Buckeye Conference has only four schools that sanction tennis and the league needs five before the NBC will play for a championship, but that doesn’t stop the Bulldogs from taking to the court.
Carmack says his top two players will be Sizemore and Claypool.
“(They) have had some spirited back and forth matches this fall to compete for that top spot,” Carmack said. “Both of the girls have beautiful ground strokes and are very consistent.
“Sofia’s best attribute is her ability to get to almost any ball and being a left-hander offers a change-up for opponents. Amy has added a slice serve to her repertoire that will be useful to keep her opponents on their toes.”
Carmack says Maenle will be “slotted at third singles.”
“Sam has worked diligently at her net play which will put pressure on her opponents to hit passing shots or lobs,” Carmack said.
Carmack says his doubles teams are in flux right now.
“Doubles teams will be fluid but right now we are looking at (senior) Brittney Tingly and (junior) Justynne Jones and then Rileigh Clair and (freshman) Lexi Klocko or (senior) Rose Klocko,” Carmack said.
“Attributes that will help my doubles teams be successful is their communication and closeness with their partner.
“Brittney and Justynne are also involved with the band so they have the friendship that sometimes is so crucial for a successful doubles team. They know each other well so hopefully that reflects on the court as they have already shown their ability to communicate fluidly on the courts.
“Truthfully, I have seen huge improvements in my whole team but specifically my doubles team who are all new to the sport.”
Some of those first-year players have put in a lot of time over the summer to get their game up.
“I will be intrigued to see how my doubles team of Justynne and Brittney do this year as they are both brand new to the sport and have put in the time and effort to perfect their skill this summer,” Carmack said.
“They have a connection with being in the band together for a couple years here at Rossford and it has reflected well so far this summer,” Carmack said.
“I have high expectations for freshman Lexi Klocko as anytime you have a freshman you hope they catch on quickly and can ‘catch the bug’ that gets her hooked and we can build on that for the coming three years.
“Rose Klocko won’t be outperformed by her sister and she has put in the work this season to perfect her skills as well. Rose played her freshman and sophomore seasons and hope she can pick up where she left off as a sophomore.”
Although there is an effort to find a fifth team in the NBC, the four teams that already have tennis keep each other on the schedule.
“Playing the other teams in the conference while at Waite gives me some insight into the level of competition with Fostoria, Oak Harbor and Maumee and I don’t see why we can’t compete with them,” Carmack said.
“We will find out very quickly as we start the season with Maumee and Fostoria in two of our first three matches.”
No matter how the season goes, Carmack believes he has a team that will gel as the season moves ahead.
“The team’s strength is they are a very close group who all get along with each other,” Carmack said. “We have mini-competitions and games we play throughout practices and summer workouts and they have been super supportive of each other and it’s evident they bond outside of tennis season.
“The weakness is our inexperience in tennis and we will rely on first-year players to step up and play varsity and obviously win crucial matches that can allow our team to win competitions.
“This is a great group of girls who have devoted their summer to improving the Rossford tennis program. We have made the most of our open courts and they have worked tirelessly to use all of our court time to perfect our skills.”
