Outstanding Ada High school tennis player now a senior at ONU Mackenzie Wills tied Ohio Northern all-time career singles wins record, leading the Polar Bear women's tennis team to a 9-0 season-opening victory over Marietta on Saturday afternoon at the Westwood Tennis and Fitness Center.
The Polar Bears improve to 1-0 overall and are 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Pioneers fall to 0-1, 0-1.
Wills won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles for her 83rd career singles win, tying the record set by Meghan Letizia from 2012-16.
Junior Ola Latala (Grosse Isle, Mich.) won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and combined with freshman Olivia Kesner(Lima/Central Catholic) to win 8-1 at No. 1 doubles.
Senior Katie Curry (Oxford/Talawanda), sophomore Regan Landis (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) and Kesner won 6-0, 6-0 at Nos. 5, 3 and 2 singles, respectively.
Freshman Mykaela Schriber (Kenton) won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
In doubles play, Wills and sophomore Jeorgia Templin (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) won 8-0 at No. 2 and Curry and Landis won 8-0 at No. 3.
The Polar Bears will return to action on March 21 with a home contest against Mount Union.
Mackenzie Wills' ONU tennis bio
Overview: Mackenzie has been honored as an ITA Scholar Athlete twice in her career ... Ranks second all-time in ONU history with 82 singles wins in her four years... Needs just one singles win to tie the school record of 83 set by Meghan Letizia from 2012-16 ... Is 2nd all-time with a career record of 161-48 and is 5th all-time 79-30 mark in doubles matches ... Is 10 doubles wins shy of the school record 89 by Letizia and is 11 overall wins away from Letizia's school record of 172 ... Owns a 40-8 career mark in OAC play ... Has a 25-2 record at #4 singles and is 45-9 at #2 doubles ... Was named the OAC Player of the Week twice in her career ... Has only used three years of athletic eligibility as the 2019-20 season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senior Season (2019-20): Was a team-best 28-6 before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic ... Led the team with a 15-2 record in singles play and was 13-4 in doubles ... Named the Co-OAC Player of the Week on 2/17/20 ... Named a ITA Scholar Athlete.
Junior Season (2018-19): Named an ITA Scholar Athlete ... Tied the single-season school record with a 50-9 overall record ... Went 24-3 playing anywhere from the No. 2 singles to the No. 6 singles ... Tied a school record with a 26-6 mark playing on the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams ... Had a 13-2 record in OAC play ... Was named the OAC Player of the Week on 4/15/19.
Sophomore Season (2017-18): Led the Polar Bears in singles (23), doubles (20), and overall victories (43) in her second season ... She would finish with a 7-1 singles conference record and a 6-2 doubles mark.
Freshman Season (2016-17): Went 20-6 in singles play, 20-10 in doubles action and 40-16 overall ... Played Nos. 2-6 singles and Nos. 2-3 doubles ... Her 40 wins was second-best on the team.
