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Victims of drug overdoses remembered at Kirby Park event in Wilkes-Barre

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Our Opinion: As school year begins, look for ways to boost student motivation

The 2016 Wyoming Valley Conference high school girls tennis season looks to be a highly competitive race to the top.Hazleton Area is coming off an undefeated 14-0 regular season in which the Cougars captured the WVC title.This year, Hazleton Area brings in a brand new coach, Katie Pavlick, who led MMI Prep to an 8-5 record last season. She will be replacing long-time head coach Amber Corrado after 12 seasons at the helm.The Cougars return key players Stephanie Mazurek and Lily Nowak who won a District 2 3A championship in doubles, along with junior Sosia Losen.&#8220;With six returning players I have very high expectations,&#8221; Pavlick said. &#8220;I have full confidence in them and believe they will be tough to beat this year.&#8221;Another talented squad to watch out for this season are the Holy Redeemer Royals. Joe Suchocki&#8217;s playoff-bound team went 11-2 last year, but will have big shoes to fill this season with the departure of three key starting players &#8212; Meghan McGraw, Angela Malinovitch and Abby Muth.&#8220;We are looking for people to step up to fill the gaps,&#8221; Suchocki said. &#8220;Hopefully we can make the playoffs again this year.&#8221;After a 10-3 finish last year, Tiffany Callaio&#8217;s Wyoming Area Warriors are a team to keep an eye on. The team returns key, experienced players such as Allison Lampman, Emily Cheskiewicz, Lea Getz and Nina Minnelli.&#8220;After losing the three best players this program has ever had, it will be a rebuilding year,&#8221; Callaio said. &#8220;I would love to have another winning season and get back to the playoffs. It all depends on how they transition from playing doubles to now playing singles.&#8221;Wyoming Seminary will also have to cope with the loss of its top two players in Jacqui Meuser and Megan Obeid. After going 9-2 last season and advancing to the semifinals in the district playoffs, Allison Joanlanne expects her team to be up for the challenge.&#8220;We lost our top two players from last year, but we have a lot of good returners and new players. I hope to make the playoffs like we do every year,&#8221; she said.BERWICKCoach: Trinell Bull (33rd season)2015 Record: 10-5Home Courts: Berwick High School Tennis CourtKey Returning Players: Gabi Topko, Lily Force-Moore, Alexis Zalutko, Jacee Carrathers (All Seniors), Isabella ArndtKey Losses: Linda Thelemaque (top player last season), Kayla Davis, Mary Kramer, Rachel Betz, Kate DalrympleCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;We are heavy on seniors and I expect to be very competitive. Our team goal would be for these girls to make district playoffs. We are very team-oriented with our four key returning seniors helping our new players. They are a cohesive unit, together both on the court and off.&#8221;COUGHLINCoach: Teresa Popielarski (13th season)2015 Record: 5-8 (Lost to Abington Heights in team district playoffs)Home Courts: Plains Township Municipal Park on Clark LaneKey Returning Players: Diana Rodriguez, Kira Meager, Diana StavinskiKey Losses: Kristi Pearage (No. 1 singles), Deanna Richards (No. 3 singles)Coach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;Along with our returning upperclassmen, we have a lot of new players who show great potential and will probably be rotated into the lineup. Our goal for this year is to play our best, have fun, and make it to team district playoffs.&#8221;CRESTWOODCoach: Scott Lenio (19th season)2015 Record: 4-10Home Courts: Wright Township ParkKey Returning Players: Kara Grenzberg (singles), Allison Knorek (singles)Key Losses: Emily Shiplett, Morgan Novosel, Alaina Williams, Gabby SluckiCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;The team lost four starters from last year. The returning singles players this year have some experience in league play and we hope to improve as the year goes along. The doubles teams consist of players who have not played in league matches. We hope to improve as the year goes along and try to reach .500.&#8221;DALLASCoach: Joe Pugliese (6th season)2015 Record: 5-8Home Courts: Dallas High SchoolKey Returning Players: Hannah Bonk, Allie Stallard, Emily Heltzel, Mikayla RenoldsKey Losses: Caitlyn Landau, Michelle LeonardCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;A few of our top players missed a lot of matches last year. That allowed me to get some other players some experience in varsity matches. That should help us going into this year. We have no superstars, but we have good depth. Our goal every year is to make the playoffs. That may be a tough task this year, but I like the positive attitude of this team.&#8221;GARCoach: Raphael Cooper (4th season)2015 Record: 2-11Home Courts: Barney Farms in Wilkes-BarreKey Returning Players: Michelle Tapia, Samantha Rodriguez, Roselyn KosichKey Losses: Giselle Huertero, Josmarlyn Rizas, Jessica Valencia, Tatiana Reed, Paige GartinCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;For my assistant coach Josh Wasielewski and I, we have a very young, new inexperienced team where we hope they learn the game and to play it the right way. We want them to go out and compete and enjoy the experience. We would be happy to see them grow in upcoming years and rebuild a nice foundation for our program for many seasons to come.&#8221;HANOVER AREACoach: Terry Schnee (29th season)2015 Record: 2-11Home Courts: Hanover Area High SchoolKey Returning Players: Victoria Hoffman (No. 1 singles), Victoria DowneyKey Losses: Lauren Richmond, Maryann ChapinCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;We would like to compete and have a complete lineup for our tennis matches. We want to help our newer girls develop basic tennis skills to play competitive matches and to rebuild the program that will hopefully become the nucleus of our team. We have had a declining number of players on our roster the last several years, we used to have anywhere from 14 to 16 players on a given roster and last season we only had four players on the entire team. This season is looking up, as we have eight girls on the roster and should have a complete lineup.&#8221;HAZLETON AREACoach: Katie Pavlick (1st season)2015 Record: 14-0 (Won Wyoming Valley Conference, won doubles in District II 3A)Home Courts: Hazleton Area High School Tennis CourtsKey Returning Players: Stephanie Mazurek, Jr.; Lily Nowak, soph; Sosia Losen, Jr.Key Losses: Jessica WennerCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;With six returning players I have very high expectations. The girls are coming back in full swing and I look for them to be competitive and strong throughout the whole season. I have full confidence in them and believe they will be tough to beat this year.&#8221;HOLY REDEEMERCoach: Joe Suchocki (5th season)2015 Record: 11-2 (made playoffs)Home Courts: Kirby ParkKey Returning Players: Charlotte Maria, Alex Kester, Lauren LaMarca, Emily Evans, Gracyn Giampietro, Julia Randazzo, Erika SerafinKey Losses: Meghan McGraw, Angela Malinovitch, Abby MuthCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;Losing three starters from last year&#8217;s squad leaves a big hole to fill. We are looking for people to step up to fill the gaps. Hopefully we can make the playoffs again this year.&#8221;MMI PREPCoach: Michael Portonova (1st season)2015 Record: 8-5Home Courts: MMI PrepKey Returning Players: Jessica Smith,Sr; Libby Pinto, Sr.; Jackie Braunstein, Jr.; Katherine Pinto, fr.Key Losses: No players lost from last yearCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;My goals are to continue building the program. We have a good group of girls returning, and we look to be very competitive in both the conference and districts this season.&#8221;PITTSTON AREACoach: Amanda Wascazich (2nd season)2015 Record: 4-9Home Courts: Martin Mattei Middle SchoolKey Returning Players: McKenzie Connors, Sr.; Taryn Whitman, Sr.Key Losses: Sarah Schwartz, Jess BorgletCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;We are looking to improve on our 4-9 record from last year. We have lots of returning players from last year&#8217;s starting lineup. We put in a lot of work in our offseason and are looking forward to having a good year, hopefully making team districts.&#8221;TUNKHANNOCKCoach: John Grey (3rd season)2015 Record: 7-6Home Courts: Tunkhannock Tigers Tennis CourtsKey Returning Players: Autumn Grey, Miranda Donovan, Stephanie Seward, Lia RomeKey Losses: Briana Grey, Haley Puterdaugh, Kaitlyn Markovitz, Emily GesnaCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;You hope for the best and plan for the worst. The girls have been playing hard over the summer, and we hope they can fill in some big shoes for the upperclassmen we lost from last year. Hopefully our depth chart is strong enough to overcome those losses. Even more important than any possible playoff goals, we look to improve and have fun, as they learn the sport of tennis along the way. We think we can be competitive throughout the entire season.&#8221;WYOMING AREACoach: Tiffany Callaio (5th season)2015 Record: 10-3 (Lost to Valley View in the playoffs)Home Courts: Martin Mattei Middle School in Pittston AreaKey Returning Players: Allison Lampman, Emily Cheskiewicz, Lea Getz, Nina Minnelli, Brianna PizzanoKey Losses: Kierstin Grillo, Anna Thomas, Laura Perry, Melanie Wrubel, Emily AmbrusoCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;After losing the three best players this program has ever had, it will be a rebuilding year, but the four returning players do have playing time experience. I would love to have another winning season and get back to the playoffs. The girls are young, but have been working hard. It all depends on how they transition from playing doubles to now playing singles.&#8221;WYOMING SEMINARYCoach: Allison Joanlanne (5th season)2015 Record: 9-2 (made it to semifinals in district playoffs)Home Courts: Lull Tennis CenterKey Returning Players: Abbie Catin, Jr.; Emily Laurore, Sr.Key Losses: Jacqui Meuser, Megan ObeidCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;Even though we lost our top two players, we have a lot of good returning and new players. We hope to make playoffs like we do every year.&#8221;WYOMING VALLEY WESTCoach: Jim Zimmerman (21st season)2015 Record: 1-12Home Courts: Hamilton Park in Kingston, PAKey Returning Players: Bryden Peters, Sr.; Madisen Jastremski, Jr.; Allison Dotter, Sr.; Mariah Care, Sr.Key Losses: Laura ThompsonCoach&#8217;s Outlook: &#8220;We return our first and second singles players, Bryden Peters and Madisen Jastremski, and a couple of key doubles players from last year&#8217;s team. We are working hard and I hope we improve as the season moves along.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Stephanie Mazurek returns to a Cougars squad that went 14-0 last season and won the WVC title. morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL101615D2Tennis_2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Stephanie Mazurek returns to a Cougars squad that went 14-0 last season and won the WVC title. morning. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Ross TuretskyFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</shirttailMeta></div>

2016 WVC Girls Tennis Preview: Hazleton Area ready for title defense