All-decade teams: Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar had good genes and a great career in girls' tennis

Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar not only was an easy choice for Gazette Player of the Decade for the period spanning 2010-19, she's the most decorated player in Medina County girls tennis history. In winning four Gazette MVP awards from 2013-16, Dunbar compiled a 120-10 career record and advanced to at least the state singles quarterfinals every year of her career. She was a Division I quarterfinalist as a freshman and sophomore, second in the state in D-II as a junior, when she was two points from winning the title, and third in D-II as a senior. While Dunbar definitely dominated, she's not the only star on the All-Decade Team, which includes Medina's Ali Garrity, who won four MVP awards from 2009-12, and Highland's Emily Hadler, an All-Gazette pick as a freshman and county MVP from 2017-19. From a team standpoint, it was the decade of the Hornets, who won a Suburban League title in 2012 and SL American Conference crowns from 2016-19. Dunbar's mother, Vicki (Nelson) Dunbar, was a three-time D-I state champion at Wooster High and went on to play professionally, while father Keith has served as a teaching pro in 26 countries. Oldest brother Ethan was a four-time Gazette MVP and finished fourth in the D-I state singles tournament as a senior in 2010, while middle brother Jacob was a three-time Gazette MVP — he graduated from Cloverleaf in three years — and won the 2013 D-I state singles championship in his final season. Dunbar, who was ranked 35th in the nation among female players in the class of 2017, was named Portage Trail Conference Player of the Year four times and never lost a league match. She went 28-3 in each of her first two seasons, 34-1 as a junior and 30-3 as a senior, while her second-place finish at the 2015 state tournament is the best showing by a county girl in the history of the event. As a senior, Dunbar started the season 23-0 and won 276 straight games. As a junior, she once won a match 6-0, 6-0 by capturing 48 points without losing one. Dunbar is now playing at the University of Richmond in Virginia, the same D-I college where her brothers starred. As a freshman first singles player in 2017-18, she was named Atlantic 10 co-Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Rookie Performer after going 11-8 in singles and 9-10 in doubles. Dunbar again was first-team All-Atlantic 10 as a sophomore, when she was 8-13 in singles and 15-5 in doubles. In a 2019-20 season that got cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, she was 10-9 in singles and 6-5 in doubles. Postseason awards were not given out. Ali Garrity, Medina The left-handed Garrity spent her entire career at first singles, compiled an 89-23 career record and was a four-time Gazette MVP from 2009-12. Garrity went 21-7 as a freshman, was 20-5 and a D-I district qualifier as a sophomore and compiled a 23-6 record and earned a state singles berth as a junior. As a senior, she went 25-5, was named Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division Player of the Year and earned another state singles berth. In both her state appearances, Garrity lost in the first round to Cincinnati Ursuline's Mehvish Safdar, the eventual champion in 2011 and a third-place finisher in 2012. Garrity went on to have an outstanding career at D-I Siena College in New York, where she played first singles for four seasons and compiled a 43-29 career record. She was 53-31 on the doubles court, including 21-2 as a senior. The Saints finished second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference her final two seasons. Emily Hadler, Highland Hadler was a four-time All-Gazette selection and three-time MVP while playing first singles from 2016-19 and finishing with a 129-21 career record. An SL American Conference champion her first three seasons and second as a senior, she was a D-I district singles qualifier as a freshman, sectional champion and state singles qualifier as a sophomore and a state doubles qualifier with Rachel Fannin as a junior and senior. She earned Gazette MVP honors her final three seasons. Hadler, who finished 28-5 as a freshman, 34-7 as a sophomore, 34-4 as a junior and 33-5 as a senior, will continue her career at the University of Findlay, a D-II program that competes in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Elizabeth Stuart, Medina A three-time All-Gazette choice, Stuart owns a 70-26 career record at first singles with one high school season left to play. She is a three-time D-I district singles qualifier and two-time reigning sectional champion. Stuart went 25-8 and finished third in the Greater Cleveland Conference as a freshman, when she was third at sectionals, and 20-10 as a sophomore, when she was second in the GCC and fell one win shy of a state berth. She was 25-8 and second in the GCC as a junior. Stuart, who also plays basketball at Medina, plans on continuing her tennis career at the college level. She has drawn interest from a number of D-II programs and several D-I schools. Allie Welch, Highland Welch was a four-time All-Gazette pick from 2011-14 and finished with a career record of 88-22 while playing her first two seasons at third singles and last two at first singles. She was the SL third singles champion while going 20-5 as a freshman and 27-3 as a sophomore. The latter season, she teamed with Ashley Lengel to secure a D-I district doubles berth. Welch was 19-6 as a junior, when she finished second in the SL at first singles, and 22-8 as a senior, when she was third in the SL at the top spot and earned a D-I district berth in singles. Welch went on to have a solid career at D-II Slippery Rock University. Competing in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, she finished with a career record of 51-46 in singles play and 35-30 in doubles action. Nicole Hadler, Highland Hadler was a four-time All-Gazette choice from 2009-12, playing second singles her first two years and first singles as a junior and senior. She finished her career with an 83-17 record, going 23-4 as a freshman, 19-2 as a sophomore, 22-6 as a junior and 19-5 as a senior. Hadler was the SL champion at second singles in 2010 and finished second at the No. 1 spot as a junior and senior. She finished one win shy of a D-I district singles berth her final two seasons, and one victory short of a doubles berth with older sister Danielle as a freshman. Hadler attended the Naval Academy and is currently in medical school at the University of Michigan. Gabriela Heideman, Wadsworth Heideman was a four-time All-Gazette choice from 2016-19 and finished her career with a 74-32 record. The small but powerful right-hander went 21-5 while playing second singles as a freshman, then occupied the No. 1 spot the next three years. She went 15-10 as a sophomore, 15-8 as a junior and 23-9 as a senior, when she finished third in the SL National Conference and second in D-I sectional play to earn her first district berth. Heideman plans to continue her playing career at D-III Baldwin Wallace University. Coach: Lisa Reynolds, Highland Reynolds, who took over the Highland girls program in 2003, compiled a 128-50 record in the decade and led the Hornets to an SL title in 2012 and SL American Conference crowns from 2016-19. She was named Gazette Coach of the Year in 2010, 2012 and from 2016-19 after winning the award for the first of seven times in 2009. Reynolds also has coached the Highland boys team since 2004 and was named Gazette Coach of the Year in 2006, 2010 and 2012-13. She has a lifetime record of 184-110 in 17 seasons with the girls team and 180-87 in 16 years with the boys program, giving her an overall mark of 364-197 in 33 seasons. Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter.