By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
OTSEGO—Otsego girls tennis coach Jen Aldrich isn’t a big fan of having competitions on the same day as prom.
So when she found out the Wolverine Conference Championship was on the same day as Otsego’s prom—Saturday, May 14—she was less than enthused.
“In my past coaching experiences, I learned not to schedule anything on prom,” Aldrich said. “When I asked for the date (of the league tournament), this was the only Saturday I didn’t want prom to land on.”
As it turned out, she had nothing to worry about.
The Bulldogs racked up 20 points to edge out runner-up Allegan by three points. The victory, coupled with Otsego’s first-place finish during the regular season, gave the Bulldogs their first league title in the history of the program.
Otsego ended up with 72 total points, with Allegan next at 66.
“I’ve never in all my years experienced all 12 players dialed in for the entire day on prom day,” Aldrich said. “Not one parent or player asked to leave early or worried about making prom. Instead, they canceled hair appointments, dinner reservations and pictures as the day went on.
“These players were fully committed to winning the title. They gave it everything they had and I couldn’t be prouder of how they have bought in.”
Aldrich, who has numerous Wolverine Conference titles under her belt from a previous coaching stop and accepted the Otsego job in February, wasn’t sure her team would be in position to win a title this quickly. The Bulldogs lost eight players to graduation and appeared to be in rebuild mode.
That rebuilding process happened quicker than she anticipated.
“To be very honest, I thought it would take us a few years to accomplish what we did today,” she said. “The first thing that I did was build a coaching staff. The staff that we were able to put together in such a short time is remarkable. Our Middle School coach, our JV coaches and the assistant coaches have all been on the same page from day one and helping at all levels every day.
“We were also very fortunate that we gained some athletes from other sports this spring. The combination of the coaching staff mixed with eager multi-sport athletes worked. I think it was near the end of April where all the coaches looked at each other and said this team has just enough grit, heart and determination to possibly pull this off.”
Tyler Aldrich and Jack Nahikian are members of that coaching staff, having served as varsity assistants.
“There was a lot of doubt about our team this year,” Tyler Aldrich said. “Regardless, each player put in several hours a day, even up to seven days a week of intense hard work. Being able to look up in the gym at a banner during their hardest practices, during their most tiring game will be remind all the athletes that is worth going the extra mile.”
“I was really proud of our girls,” Nahikian said. “The thing that impressed me a lot was that even though we are in the latter stages of the season, you could still see vast improvements in our players as the day went on. These girls have brought a lot of energy and intensity all year so it was rewarding to have it pay off for them at the tournament.”
The flight finals had the feel of a dual meet between Otsego and Allegan, as those teams squared off in five of the eight flights.
The Bulldogs’ won three of those finals matches against Allegan: No. 3 Claudia Conde (6-0, 6-4 over Emma Kuebler); No. 2 doubles Sydney Grile/Margherita Bietti (6-2, 6-3 over Mac Morrie/Grace Davis); and No. 4 doubles Sydney Holland/Sophie Maxwell (6-1, 6-1 over Ally Brown/Luna Ruiz).
Allegan’s wins over Otsego in the finals came from No. 1 Regan Fales (6-3, 6-4 over Aly Aldrich) and No. 1 doubles Hailey Fuller/Grace Clearwater (6-1, 6-3 over Anna Moore/Madison Kroes).
Otsego also got a flight title from No. 2 singles Lexi Layman, while Allegan got a title from No. 4 singles Bristyn Neldon.
“The girls really played some of their best tennis of the year today,” Allegan coach Damien Arthur said. “We have been missing one of our best flights (No. 2 singles) much of the season, yet these young ladies still put themselves in a spot to go out and win the tournament.
“The coaches were very proud of the way they battled. Six flights in the finals shows how resilient we are as a team. Last week we were playing with a different lineup and had to revert back to the lineup we played with today. These girls handled the adversity and left it all on the court.”
The runner-up showing snapped a long streak of league titles for the Tigers.
“Much like the fall (with the boys team), leaving the Wolverine with a runner-up finish will leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially with not being at full strength yet again for the tournament,” Arthur said.
“But those are things we can’t control. Plus, Otsego still went out there and beat us in four of the six flights to earn that championship, and to that I congratulate them for an incredible tournament.”