West Ottawa's Elliot Dozeman is Holland Sentinel Boys Tennis Player of the Year

Dan D'Addona, The Holland Sentinel
·3 min read

PARK TWP. - Elliot Dozeman knew the move to No. 1 singles would be difficult.

So he started working the second last year finished to be prepared.

The West Ottawa junior worked on his strength, adding another dimension to his powerful serve, and became one of the best players in the state.

Dozeman was selected as The Holland Sentinel Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

"Elliot is setting himself up to be one of the best singles players to ever play for West Ottawa," West Ottawa coach Brian Metz said. "Only a junior, his game is going to continue to grow this off-season and I think he's got the potential to be one of the best singles players in the state next fall as a senior."

As a junior, Dozeman was 19-11, playing some of the top programs in the state on a regular basis. In fact, nearly 90% of his competition qualified for state outside conference play, and multiple OK Red Conference teams made the state finals as well.

In the powerful OK Red Conference, he went 6-1 during the seasonand finished third in the conference tournament. He was a semifinalist at the Division 1 regional tournament and led the Panthers back to the tate tournament.

His signature moment came earlier in the season when he swept his flight at the Ann Arbor Pioneer quad, something no West Ottawa player has done, leadin gthe Panthers to win the event for the first time after decades of competing at the event.

"This offseason, I was in the weight room a lot. That and a little new technique, more in the legs, has been big," Dozeman said. "You need that at No. 1. You need more weapons to use. Freshman year, I was really small. That winter and spring, I noticed I was hitting the ball a lot harder. It just kept going."

Reaching that next level, will again take something Dozeman is familiar with - hard work in the offseason.

The West Ottawa boys tennis team defeated Holland 6-3 in a thrilling match on Monday at Holland.
The West Ottawa boys tennis team defeated Holland 6-3 in a thrilling match on Monday at Holland.

"I'm excited to see how much he improves over the next 10 months. He had a great junior campaign with his all-court game," Metz said. "He really doesn't have a weakness. He can make all the shots and loves competing. A true gamer, he's going to be a player no one wants to see next fall."

  • All-Area First Team

  • Elliot Dozeman, West Ottawa (POY)

  • Tucker Heneghan, Holland Christian

  • Brady Schanski, Zeeland East

  • Ethan Haskill, Zeeland West

  • Jackson Miller, Hamilton

  • Liam Herweyer, West Ottawa

  • Jack O'Brien, West Ottawa

  • Sam Payne, Holland

  • Elliot Wehrmeyer, Holland

  • Simon Langejans, Holland Christian

  • Henry Langejans, Holland Christian

  • Jake Bloemers, West Ottawa

  • Cody Schurman, West Ottawa

  • Brody Ruby, West Ottawa

  • Brayden Goodwin, West Ottawa

  • Max McCormick, West Ottawa

  • Landon Meyer, West Ottawa

  • Second Team

  • Aiden Sin, Holland

  • Mason Blauwkamp, Hamilton

  • Andrew Lubbers, Holland

  • Traiden Bethke, West Ottawa

  • Trevyn Bethke, West Ottawa

  • Nick Lloyd, Zeeland West

  • Josh Dawson, Holland Christian

  • Charlie Reese, Zeeland East

  • James Stewart, Zeeland West

  • Dylan Becksvoort, Holland Christian

  • James Baer, Holland

  • Seth Lappinga, Hamilton

  • Tyler Dykstra, Zeeland West

  • Mitch Boerman, Holland Christian

  • Tryg Tanis, Holland Christian

  • Jackson Engbers, Holland Christian

  • Tyler Hemmeke, Holland Christian

  • Hayden Bauman, Holland Christian

  • Evan Disselkoen, Holland Christian

  • Luke Kaynor, Zeeland West

  • Luke Bosma, Zeeland West

  • Diego Mendoza, Zeeland West

  • Max Settlemyre, Zeeland West

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Ottawa's Elliot Dozeman is Holland Sentinel Boys Tennis Player of the Year