Clarkston tennis team focused, ready to bring home a state championship

The Clarkston tennis team captured the regional championship on May 16, winning seven of eight flight championships to advance to this weekend’s Division 1 State Finals in Midland. The top-ranked Wolves are undefeated on the season with a 19-0 match record. (Photo contributed)

The last time Clarkston won a girls state tennis championship, many of the players on this year’s squad had yet to enter a classroom.

The year was 2011, and the Wolves had a dominant singles lineup, with players like Gabriella Spindler, Lexi Baylis, Katie Brozovich and Kristina Lucas making deep runs in the tournament. Baylis, Brozovich and Lucas all won flight championships, helping their team capture the school’s first – and only – state title.

Over the next three years, the Wolves would finish second, third and second at the Finals. Clarkston had become a household name in the tennis world.

As the 2024 Finals get set to take place this weekend, this year’s Wolves are looking to make a name for themselves. Coach Mary Jo Colonna’s team is unbeaten, having finished the regular season with a perfect 19-0 match record. The Wolves have beaten 14 ranked teams along the way, including all but one of the top 12 teams in Division 1 (they did not face No. 7 Okemos).

“We definitely played a tough schedule, that’s what you want,” said Colonna, who has been the head coach at Clarkston since 2015. “You want to play everyone before you see them at states. I would say that this team is extremely focused, they are dialed in and want this challenge.”

The Wolves finished third at last year’s Finals behind three-time defending champion Ann Arbor Pioneer and Oakland Activities Association rival Troy. Colonna returned nine of 12 starters from last year’s team, led by junior Leah Geisz at No. 1 singles. Geisz was a quarterfinalist a year ago and is the 3-seed entering this weekend.

Junior Charlotte Partchenko returns at No. 4 singles, having finished runner-up a year ago. Also returning from last year’s lineup are juniors Kate Ketzler and Ginger Robinson (No. 1 doubles), senior Kat Fisher and junior Ava Henkel (No. 2 doubles), senior Lauren Sielinski and sophomore Lana Sloan (No. 3 doubles) and junior Abigail Finnerty, who is paired with junior Lilly Stephenson at No. 4 doubles.

The Wolves added a pair of gems to the lineup this year, with freshmen Sydney Geisz and Kayla Lemke holding down Nos. 2-3 singles. The two are sporting identical 22-0 records and are the top seeds at their flights this weekend.

“Throughout this season, I’ve watched my players grow as individuals and as partners,” Colonna said. “They are all so talented, bringing out the best in each other and challenging each other every single day. What really sets them apart isn’t just skill. It’s their mental toughness. State finals at this level takes skill for sure but just as important are focus and grit. That’s what we have and that is what we are bringing this weekend.”

Those Clarkston teams from the early 2010s were molded through a strong community tennis program, with many of the top players competing year-round – not unlike what this year’s group of Wolves are all about.

“To be a top team, you have to develop players. It takes time, and there was a period where tennis wasn’t as popular in Clarkston,” said Colonna, who was an assistant coach for the 2011 championship team. “Now, it’s booming. We have over 50 girls in our program.

“Several of the girls on this team have been together since they were 7 to 8 years old. Charlotte, Ava, Lana, Ginger, Kate and Abigail. You bet I told them how good they would be. I told them, their parents, the community. This was always the goal and I am so happy that they still love the game and are getting to realize the dream now.”

The singles lineup has a combined record of 84-4 against the toughest schedule in the state. The doubles teams are 71-11. No team in the state can match the Wolves’ depth.