By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

Despite having seven returning varsity members from a year ago, the Burnsville girls tennis team is, in a sense, starting over.

Gone is Tooli Wilkins, who won the Class AA state singles title her senior year and had been the Blaze’s No. 1 player since she was in eighth grade. Wilkins had a career record of 130-10, which included runner-up finishes at state in 2005 and 2006.

Also gone is coach Bruce Anderson, who stepped aside last spring from coaching both the Blaze boys and girls programs. Ben Stapp takes over for Anderson after coaching Burnsville’s junior varsity last year.

“It’s a whole new start for us, even though we have seven returning girls from last year,” said Blaze senior captain Hailey Robb. “We didn’t have a very good record last year, so we want to improve on that. For a lot of the girls, it was their first year on varsity, so I think having that year under their belts will help us.”

Burnsville finished 3-16 overall last season (1-9 in the Lake Conference). Wilkins, who is playing Division I this fall at the University of Minnesota, was 26-0, becoming the first Blaze player to win a state singles title since 1997 when Judy Wang won as a junior.

“We had a lot of 1-6 scores last year with Tooli getting our one win,” said Robb. “Tooli leaves a big hole, but I think we are going to be much more competitive even with her gone. We had a lot of girls working over the winter and summer on their game.”

Robb said six of the returning varsity players took lessons at Match Point Tennis in Lakeville from Ron York, who has been a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) since 1975.

Stapp, a social studies teacher at Eagle Ridge Junior High School, is also a certified USPTA teaching pro.

Robb said her new coach is a little stricter than Anderson.

“Bruce was a little more laid back,” said Robb. “Both are great coaches. Ben is more strict, but in a good way. He knows how to make practice fun.”

Junior Brooke Selisker joins Robb as a team captain. Both played mostly doubles last year for the Blaze.

Sophomores Lauren Smith and junior Amy Gluth are the team’s top two returning singles players. Last fall they played mostly in the No. 3 and 4 spots, respectively.

Junior Megan Raden and sophomores Ellen Cocchiarella and Jillian Dotas also figure into the team’s top 10.

The Blaze open up its season on Saturday, Aug. 16 when it played Cannon Falls in a non-conference match at 8:30 a.m. The team’s home opener is Monday, Aug. 18 against Orono at 10 a.m.

Burnsville will also be at Richfield on Wednesday, Aug. 20 and at Prior Lake on Friday, Aug. 22 in a pair of non-conference matches. Both start at 10 a.m. The Blaze’s conference opener is Aug. 25 at Lakeville South at 3:30 p.m.