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Cranbrook 4-Peats with Near Perfection
October 20, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
NOVI/WEST BLOOMFIELD – Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood boys tennis coach Steve Herdoiza said his team had conquered challenges all season. But Saturday’s MHSAA Finals was a different one.
The main opponent was time, as weather forced the event to be played much longer than anticipated.
Teams waited out a delay in the morning so the outdoor courts at Novi High School could dry, and by the time the semifinals got into full swing just before noon, more bad weather had arrived.
That forced everyone to pack up and drive to an indoor court roughly 30 minutes away, The Sports Club of West Bloomfield, to finish out the day.
The result was an event that didn’t end until just after 7:30 p.m., but the wait was well worth it for Cranbrook.
For the fourth straight year, the Cranes captured the Lower Peninsula Division 3 title, doing so in dominating fashion by winning seven flights and earning 39 points.
“They’ve responded that way all year,” Herdoiza said. “Whatever challenge has been put in front of them, they’ve handled it beautifully with the same approach. Obviously, (Saturday’s weather) threw some things off.”
Detroit Country Day was runner-up with 28 points, while East Grand Rapids netted 25 points to take third.
Cranbrook was led by junior Lucas Bosch, who captured the No. 1 singles title with a three-set win over rival Nikolas Gruskin of Country Day.
It was the third victory of the season for Bosch over Gruskin, but by far the hardest to achieve.
Gruskin won the first set, 6-3, before Bosch rallied to win the second, 6-1.
Bosch then pulled out a 6-4 win in the third set to win his second straight individual title after he won the crown at No. 2 singles last year.
Bosch said Gruskin made adjustments from the previous two matches, and playing indoors without any elements made it more intense.
“There was a lot more running this match,” Bosch said. “Going to my backhand, he was serving it a lot better. He had out-wide serves slicing away.”
Bosch had plenty of help though.
Justin Luo (No. 2), Nolan Sherwood (No. 3) and Joe Croskey (No. 4) each backed up their No. 1 seed in their respective flights by winning titles to help Cranbrook sweep the singles portion of the event.
Cranbrook won three of the four doubles flights, with the team of Patrick Tiwari/Sohum Acharya at No. 2 doubles, the team of Hayes Bradley/David Hermelin at No. 3 and the tandem of Geoffrey Qin/Isaiah Croskey at No. 4 doubles all finishing first.
Tiwari/Sohum and Qin/Croskey were seeded No. 1 going into the tournament, but the title won by Bradley/Hermelin was more of a surprise since that team entered seeded No. 3.
The only flight won by a team not named Cranbrook came at No. 1 doubles, where the East Grand Rapids pair of Ryan Poste and Kole Butterer won despite entering as the No. 3 seed.
“Even though we won by a wide margin, there were a lot of close matches that went our way,” Herdoiza said. “I attribute that to the guys and how they handle pressure moments. They are poised, and their competitiveness was off-the-charts good.”
PHOTO: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood's Lucas Bosch sends back a volley during Saturday's Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Detroit Country Day's Nikolas Gruskin returns a shot, also at No. 1 singles. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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Negaunee, Olivier Cap 4-Year Title Runs
May 30, 2019
By Adam Niemi
Special for Second Half
KINGSFORD - Negaunee won its fourth straight MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals trophy Wednesday, but Marquette's Alec Olivier also left quite a legacy.
Olivier finished his high school tennis career with an unblemished 63-0 record and capped it with his fourth UP title at No. 1 singles.
While going undefeated through high school wasn't a goal when Olivier started out as a freshman, he said, the quest to maintain a perfect record brought more pressure as he played over the seasons.
"I'm happy it's over. Very stressful trying to go undefeated my whole career," Olivier said. "Really glad I was able to stay undefeated. I think my first year I was the only person to make it in the finals. Now we've got five people in the finals. Really looking forward to what comes of Marquette tennis."
Negaunee took the team win with 21 points. The Miners won all but two flights. Olivier and teammate Benjamin Sternschuss were the only ones to thwart the Miners in the finals.
Kingsford's Tyler Beauchamp and Reece Fortner nearly thwarted Negaunee at No. 1 doubles.
Down by two points in the second set, the Miners duo of Jakson Sager and Drew Lindberg rallied back to win 6-2, 7-5. The comeback underscored Negaunee's ability to overcome adversity to win its fourth consecutive UP title and eighth of the last 10.
"It's a belief. I think the biggest time that's evident is when you end up in a pressure situation," Negaunee head coach Kyle Saari said of the team's resilience. "If it's 5-4 or if you end up getting into a third set, you see people do it before or if you've done it before yourself, you don't feel the pressure – you can apply the pressure."
Saari said the team's winning culture has centered on a team-first approach – a win in any flight is embraced by each player in every flight.
"We understand that most seasons we come in there's a pretty sizable target on our back," Saari said. "These kids, they kind of embrace that challenge and understand the tradition they've built to pass the game on to the next group that comes in. Back from the first day of practice, this is always one of the goals that we set. They work hard day in and day out and support each other. They definitely do it as a team sport. That's always the unique side of it is they embrace each other’s success, and that's what's most neat to be a part of."
Kingsford head coach Sarah Massie said she anticipated a strong bout at No. 1 doubles.
"Coming in we were the underdog because we had lost to them two times earlier this season," she said. "Winning (the Great Northern Conference tournament) last week, I was hoping we could pull it off. Negaunee has such a solid one doubles team, I knew it was going to be tough no matter which way it went. Last time we played them it went to three sets. We were right there with them."
Asked what's different about his tennis game in his senior year compared to his freshman year, Olivier ran his fingers through his beard.
"I've got a lot longer beard," he said with a smile. "I'm definitely a lot more mature. I've got a much better understanding of tennis. Playing a lot of matches you get a good understanding of how the game works and how your points play."
Marquette head coach Charlie Drury said Olivier's performance Wednesday typified his career. He ended with a straight-set win over Negaunee’s No. 1.
"Playing at No. 1 you're always facing the best players," Drury said. "To be able to do it for four years is just a remarkable feat. I don't think anyone has done that, at least not in the last 50 years that I'm aware. Alec's been solid. He's had a lot of pressure to keep that record going. He's done just a tremendous job and (I) couldn't be more proud of him."
Drury said he also liked his team's heady performance against Negaunee's depth.
"Couldn't be more pleased with the guys," Drury said. "I felt as though we were gaining ground going into this tournament. I really think that our guys learned something today to compete with a good team like Negaunee. You've gotta work hard, and today they really did. Negaunee edged us out, but they deserve the win."
Click for full finals flight results.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Negaunee player returns a volley during Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Marquette’s Alec Olivier gets set to send back a shot during his run to the No. 1 singles championship. (Photos by Adam Niemi.)