SARATOGA SPRINGS — The doubles team of Clare Dooley and Addison Jones capped off an impressive season for the Saratoga Springs varsity girls tennis team, bringing home the Section 2 Doubles Championship on Oct. 23.
As the top seed, Dooley and Jones earned a bye in the first round of sectionals, and proceeded to cruise their way to the championship round, where they captured the Section 2 girls tennis doubles championship with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Bethlehem’s Hope Brown and Rayka Kogut.
The duo’s results were the culmination of a year that saw the Blue Streaks go undefeated as a team in the regular season, and earn the #1 seed in the Section 2 Class AA team tournament. Saratoga’s only loss as a team eventually came in the Section 2 Championship, 5-4 against Bethlehem.
Head coach Tim O’Brien said it was one of the team’s best seasons in his time as coach, adding that the Blue Streaks’ squad “always played hard.”
“It was just an amazing year, from the standpoint of the regular season and going into sectional play,” said O’Brien. “Then to get Clare and Addison together as a doubles team, and to have them have the success that they had, it’s been one of my best seasons as a coach, along with Coach Crotty and Coach Nizzi, that we’ve had in the last 14 years.”
O’Brien also had praise for the doubles team of Dooley and Jones, saying they were “an incredible combo” throughout the postseason.
“They’re two very young players,” O’Brien said. “The way they attacked the tournament, it was awesome to see.”
The sectional win was made even more impressive considering Jones is a sophomore, while Dooley is in seventh grade.
“I think we played really well,” said Dooley of the doubles sectional tournament. “Especially in the semifinals and finals, we played our best.”
Last season, Jones was on a doubles team with senior Kate Lindley, and O’Brien said that partnership helped prepare her to partner with Dooley this fall.
“I think Addison really took after Kate, learned from her,” O’Brien said. “Both her and Clare, they developed a friendship, but they also developed a great rapport of working together on the court. It really showed.”
This was emphasized by Jones, saying that she and Dooley “barely knew each other” at the start of the season before eventually growing close.
“We just grew that bond, being on the courts next to each other,” said Jones. “We would cheer each other on. Now, we’re like great friends.”
Dooley and Jones advanced to the NYSPHSAA tournament, defeating Fayetteville-Manlius’ Selena Chen and Shreya Bhattacharya in their opening match. The Blue Streaks’ duo lost in the Round of 16 to Westhampton Beach’s Matila Buchen and Julia Stabile, who went on to win the state championship.
In addition to the doubles team, the Blue Streaks were powered all season by strong depth throughout the roster. O’Brien said that although the team fell just short in the sectional finals, it was still a season to remember for Saratoga, particularly for graduating seniors.
“To go undefeated as their last year, it was just an outstanding accomplishment, and something that they’ll have forever,” O’Brien said. “It didn’t work out the way we wanted it to in the finals, but it was very close. We were right there, and unfortunately it didn’t go our way. But, I’m proud of the way the girls represented the school.”
Molly Beauregard, a senior, said it was “great” to finish her high school tennis career with the strong season that the Blue Streaks had.
“It was so great to have an undefeated senior year,” said Beauregard. “I also thought that we worked so well together this year. I was really happy with how it all turned out, and how we all worked together.”
“Obviously, it was sad to leave,” added senior Taylor Plue. “I’m sad to leave this whole group that I’ve loved every time I come here. But I had nothing to lose, I guess, was kind of my mindset. I just wanted to play as long as I could.”
And while the Blue Streaks graduate a strong group of contributing seniors this year, they are also set to return many impactful athletes to next year’s team.
“I think next year, going into it, we’ll know what we’re capable of,” said sophomore Savannah Winter. “We’re going to fight for every match. Knowing our bonds, we already have an advantage of us all being super close.”
“A lot of other teams in the (Suburban) Council and the section are young as well, but I think that depth, and the fact that our girls are going to put the work in, hopefully we’ll have a chance to get back and have success again next year with the young group, core group that we have,” O’Brien added.
