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Community Corner

Secret No More, Oak Lawn's Fletcher Shines on Tennis Court

Going into this year’s girls’ tennis season, it’s safe to say head coach Dan Doyle didn’t exactly know what he had for the season ahead. However, that all changed virtually in the blink of an eye and the rest is history. Oak Lawn sophomore Alexis Fletcher came out of nowhere, moved up to varsity, played number-one singles, won conference, placed fourth at sectionals and advanced to the IHSA State Tournament all in her first year of playing high school tennis.

“I first met Alexis on Picture Day,” Doyle said. We take two team pictures, one for varsity and one for junior varsity. She is a sophomore, so she should have taken a picture with the JV. After she got her uniform on, I asked her if she could hit the ball as well as a varsity player that was warming up on the court. She looked at me kind of funny and said she didn’t want to brag, but yes she could hit it better.

So I asked her to hit it with me. She spun me out of the court with a forehand topspin, and then did the same with a backhand smash, and then again with a flurry of hard hit, well directed forehands and backhands. I looked at her and said, “You take a picture with the varsity.”

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While Fletcher claimed the number-one singles spot, Paulina Kotwica also excelled for the Spartans at number-two singles. Both Fletcher and Kotwica raced through the South Suburban Conference Red dual meets and the conference tournament without a single loss. At the conference meet, they both won gold medals.

 “Alexis instantly gave us a chance to win the conference,” Doyle said. “Other coaches that I would meet would come up to me and say that they had heard Oak Lawn had a stellar player. And they wanted to see her for themselves.”

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And they did, almost to the tune of winning the conference title as a team. The Spartans fell just one point short.

The next week, both Fletcher and Kotwica starred again at the IHSA Sectional. Fletcher finished fourth and advanced to State.

“I think the State Tournament was a good learning experience for her, and I believe she will play in the tournament for the foreseeable future and will be someone other players are going to have to take notice of,” Doyle said.          

 

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