“Captain Carlie Meis and Olivia Kaliher were staples at the top of our doubles lineup, as well as long time doubles player Elissa Lee,” recalled eighth-year head coach Jamie Lill.  “Captain Elizabeth Houge played a variety of roles for us in both singles and doubles, and Takaira Wynn-Sheldon also ender her career playing some very good tennis for us as well.  All five of these personalities are missed this fall.  They each held an important role in the mix of what made up our team.”

Returning letter winners include senior Ava Weber (singles, doubles), juniors Ellie Colbeck (#1 singles), Mackenzie Krava (doubles) and Mia Marsh (doubles), sophomore Leila Nasri (#2 singles) and freshman Amber Anderson (singles).  Weber and Colbeck will serve as team captains in 2020.

Colbeck advanced for the second year in a row to the Section 8AA individual tournament, this time as a singles player.  She advanced with doubles partner Kailyn Richey the previous season.

Freshman Isabella Abrahams and eighth-grader Madison Anderson are also expected to step into varsity roles.

“Both Isabella and Madison reached the varsity level for a match or two last fall,” noted Lill.  “Both girls have put in a ton of work and it shows.  It will be fun to see what these youngsters bring to the team this year.”

Lill says Bemidji and Brainerd are the top teams in the section, with St. Cloud Tech once again the favorite in the Central Lakes Conference.

“We are excited about this upcoming season,” added Lill.  “It will be very unlike any season before with all the changes this year, but we are anxious to get on the courts and compete.  We lost most of our doubles lineup to graduation, so things will look very different on that side of the lineup sheet, but we’re excited to see who rises and fills those roles.  We’ve had some great, close challenge matches already this week and have seen some drastic improvement from many of last year’s players.  They have really put in the work!  We also have a lot of new faces that we’re getting to know and figuring out where everybody fits in this year’s plan.  Our schedule is strictly CLC, so we know we have a lot of tough opponents coming our way.  It’s shaping up to be a great season for Otter tennis!”

Lill will be assisted by Roy Anderson, Matt Johnson and Norm Newell.