Cranes Turn Away Country Day Again

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

October 15, 2016

KALAMAZOO — On his seventh match point at No. 1 singles, Benji Jacobson smashed an overhead winner and had a feeling this was an important victory.

It was.

With just two matches left on Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium courts, Jacobson’s win gave Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood a one-point win over perennial nemesis Detroit Country Day to clinch the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3  championship for the second year in a row.

Cranbrook tallied 34 points to Country Day’s 33.

St. Joseph, with two flight champions, tied with East Grand Rapids for third (20 points) and Ada Forest Hills Eastern was fifth with 18.

The title chase was so close that after the doubles semifinals and before any singles semis finished, Cranbrook and Country Day were tied at 28 points each, prompting tournament director Paul Ballard to comment, “This is the first time I can remember that there were two perfect team scores by this time.”

Jacobson, the top seed who was Division 3 champ at No. 2 last year, defeated the second seed, Holland Christian senior Ryan Rhoades, 6-3, 6-4.

“I won on the seventh match point,” Jacobson said. “March 7 is my birthday, so I guess that’s kind of a lucky number.

“I knew in the back of my head my team needed me. It’s the team. It’s all about the team. That’s what I do it for.”

He said when he realized his match could be the clincher, “I was just like, get to net. That’s my game.

“I came to net and hit an overhead winner. That’s the best feeling in the world, being a state champion.”

Cranbrook coach Jeff Etterbeek said he wasn’t surprised Jacobson won the clincher.

“He’s been our anchor all year,” Etterbeek said. “He’s just a class act, a great player. It’s nice to have that in our stable, that thoroughbred in our stable.”

Etterbeek expected a tough tournament from Country Day.

“They beat us 5-3 in the dual, we beat them 5-3 in the Regional,” he said. “There were a lot of three sets so we knew it was going to be nip and tuck at the states.

“We were down the first set in all four doubles matches and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, man.’ The fact that we could win two of those meant everything.”

Country Day coach Brian DeVirgilio said it came down to nerves.

“The difference was just a couple matches here or there,” he said. “It was just a matter of nerves when you get down to it at the last minute.

“It’s just whoever can get a few more balls in the court. It’s so close right down the line. It’s just a matter of who can get a few more balls in at the end.”

Rhoades lost in the semifinals at No. 2 singles last year.

“Last year at 2 I had a good season but I had things to work on and that’s what I worked on to get better,” he said. “That resulted in me going up to No. 1 and making the finals instead of the semifinals.

“Today (Jacobson) got up 4-0 in the second set and that put a lot of pressure on me to get going. It’s kinda hard to come back from 4-0, especially on him because he’s a good player. I gave it all I had there and he still won. I tip my head to him.”

The No. 2 singles finals featured the only female, second-seeded St. Joseph senior Ahmeir Kyle, pulling out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over Country Day freshman Nick Gruskin, the top seed, in the last match on court.

“He started playing a lot better in the second set and it was getting in my head,” Kyle said. “I just had to pull it together.

“I just stayed focused and had to get back to how I was playing in the first set. Just stay consistent and keep pressing.”

Kyle played on the boys team as a freshman, losing in the MHSAA Final at No. 4 singles. She said she opted to do so again this year so she can run track in the spring.

She said she has had no problems competing against boys, but “some of them, it gets to their ego, but most of them think it’s cool.”

Gruskin was devastated at not getting the point for his team.

“I just worked hard, tried to help my teammates as much as I could,” he said. “I couldn’t get it done today.

“I didn’t expect to be the last match on. She was really good, she really was. I gotta give credit to her. She hit the ball really hard. She made a lot of balls.”

DeVirgilio said having Gruskin get to the final was a surprise.

“He really played well for us all year,” the coach said. “He’s done really well. He’s had a great year at No. 2.

“We didn’t really expect him to be as successful as he has. He did a really, really good job.”

At No. 3 singles, freshman Will Page, the top seed, gave St. Joseph its second champ with a 6-1, 6-2 win over second-seeded Justin Luo, a Cranbrook sophomore.

Making his MHSAA Finals debut, Page said: “I expected to do pretty well in this tournament, but mainly I realized I had to get to the final and bring it home for my school. 

“I just tried grinding out every point. Mainly I give it to God in that match, every point. I hit some great shots and I would say I just gave it to God in that match.”

Luo said he thinks Page was more prepared.

“I think he came out more ready than I was,” Luo said. “I was a little nervous; I was a little tight. I was hitting the ball short at the beginning.

“I was making too many errors. He stayed solid, hit the ball when he had to. I just wasn’t ready for it. I didn’t expect it.”

Luo said winning the team title this year was sweeter than last.

“Last year we kinda locked it up (winning the title with 38 points to Country Day’s 30). We were the best; there was no question.

“This year there were a lot of questions. This year we lost to DCD in the dual match. We barely pulled it out (Saturday).”

At No. 4 singles, Country Day’s top seed, Eric Wang, was leading 6-2, 2-3 when Cranbrook freshman Sohum Acharya, the second seed, retired after cramping.

“I didn’t want it to end this way, but I felt like he put out a good fight and I put out a good fight. It was a good match,” Wang said.

More surprising is that Wang was a reserve on the team last season.

“I felt like this year I really stepped up, and I’m really proud of how I performed,” he added. “The secret for me was putting a lot of time in the offseason. Also, determination and hard work and making sure that I wasn’t giving up on any points. I was going for the ball at all costs.”

Acharya said even the four bananas he ate didn’t help alleviate the leg cramps.

“I hope to use what I learned (in the tournament) and try to use it to get back here next year and hopefully win,” he said.

“I learned that sometimes you have to adjust your play style depending on how the other guy plays and, in my case, I had to be more consistent.”

The doubles finals were also hotly contested with loud cheers, hoots and hollers often erupting from the bleachers lining the back courts.

Cranbrook and Country Day fought for the title in every doubles final, with each school winning two.

At No. 1, Cranbrook’s top seeds, senior Michael Bian and junior Andrew Du, defeated second seeds, sophomore Rick Warnicke and junior Ryan Murakawa, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

At No. 2, Country Day’s top seeds, seniors Kavon Rahmani and Milind Rao defeated second seeds, junior Jacob Yellen and sophomore Joe Croskey, 7-5, 6-0.

At No. 3, Country Day’s second-seeded juniors Nate Thewes and Tommy Nardicchio upset top seeds, senior Blake Fisher and sophomore Nikhil Deenadayalu, 6-4, 6-2.

At No. 4, Cranbrook’s top seeds, junior Eshaan Kawira and sophomore Jack Trees, fought back after losing the first set, 1-6, to second seeds, junior Prathik Chukkapelli and sophomore Nick Sicilia, for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood’s Benji Jacobson returns a volley during a Saturday match at the Division 3 Final. (Middle) St. Joseph’s Ahmeir Kyle begins a serve during her championship win at No. 2 singles. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

Preview: Big Moves = Big Opportunities

October 16, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Familiar faces in new places could lead to some substantial shaking up at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals.

Two-time reigning Division 2 champion Okemos is playing in Division 1, and reigning Division 4 champion Ann Arbor Greenhills will take a run at Division 3 this time. That means new champions for sure in their former divisions – among a lot of other opportunities all over the brackets for teams and individuals hoping to make history.

Play both Friday and Saturday begins at 8 a.m. Click for full brackets for all four tournaments, plus Regional results, and come back to Second Half early Saturday evening for coverage from all four Finals.

Lower Peninsula Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center

Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Huron, 2. Troy, 3. Northville.

Huron tied with Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice for a distant second behind reigning two-time champion Bloomfield Hills a year ago, but is expected to emerge for what would be its fifth championship this decade (after most recently winning in 2016). Northville was fourth and Troy fifth a year ago, and both are seeking their first MHSAA Finals championship in this sport. Another team of note might be Okemos, ranked sixth but coming off two straight Division 2 championships.

Ann Arbor Huron: The River Rats are seeded at six flights, and all six are seeded third or higher. Doubles will be the key; Nos. 2-4 are top-seeded and No. 1 is seeded second. The No. 2 pair of Nick Grosh and TJ Bai made the semifinals at that flight as the top seed last year, and Sammy Clyde and Jacob Hejazi are seeded first at No. 3 with Clyde last season’s champion at that flight with a different partner. Nikhil Gandikota and Vincent Tremonti are the top seed at No. 4, and Max Brodkey and Anvit Rao are the second seed at No. 1 after making the semifinals at that flight last season. Owen Kelley is unseeded at No. 1 singles but made the semifinals at that flight in 2018.

Troy: The Colts are seeded at five flights, with serious power at the top of the lineup with Brennan Cimpeanu the top seed at No. 1 singles and Jagen Nallani the top seed at No. 2. Cimpeanu made the quarterfinals and Nallani the semifinals at the same flights a year ago. Additionally, three doubles flights earned third seeds.

Northville: Five flights are seeded, led by second-seeded Rachit Jain and Rohith Kesamneni at No. 4 doubles. Other veterans could play big roles. Matthew Freeman is seeded sixth at No. 1 singles and won No. 4 last year. Daniel Dong is part of the an unseeded No. 1 doubles and Justin Yang is part of the fifth seed at No. 3 after they combined to finish runner-up at No. 2 doubles in 2018.

Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s J.J. Etterbeek: He came back after losing the first set of the final to win No. 2 singles last year as a freshman, and this time he’s the fourth seed at No. 1.

Clarkston’s Luke Baylis: The Wolves senior will attempt to cap an accomplished high school career with his first championship. He’s seeded second at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals the last two seasons and finishing runner-up at No. 2 as a freshman.

Troy Athens’ Gabe Brown: He made the No. 1 singles quarterfinals last year as a sophomore and enters this weekend as the third seed in the top flight.

Okemos’ Druv Talluri and Siddharth Nagisetty: With different partners they’ve won a combined three flight championships over the last two seasons. Talluri was part of the Division 2 No. 2 champ last year when Nagisetty was part of the runner-up at No. 3, and together they are seeded first at No. 1 this weekend.

Lower Peninsula Division 2 at University of Michigan

Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 2. Detroit U-D Jesuit, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.

With Okemos moving to Division 1, there is guaranteed to be a new champion for the first time in three years – and it would be a special celebration if any of the top three-ranked teams finished first. Forest Hills Northern is seeking its first title since 1998, while U-D Jesuit and Seaholm have never won an MHSAA Finals in this sport. All three have finished Division 2 runner-up at least once, however, over the last six years.

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies are seeded at every flight as they play for their first top-two finish since coming in second in 2014. They finished fourth a year ago with Owen Goodrich placing second at No. 4 singles, and he’s the second seed at that flight this weekend. Three other flights are seeded as high or higher, with top-seeded Cole Rynbrandt and Justin Lee leading the way at No. 2 doubles.

Detroit U-D Jesuit: Seven seeded flights are a great start for the Cubs, with top seeds at No. 1 doubles in Kagan Shetterly and Theodore Yaldoo and No. 3 doubles in Teodore Melnyczuk-Gould and Nathan Comerford. Yaldoo and Comerford played singles at the Finals last season as U-D Jesuit tied for seventh as a team.

Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples tied Birmingham Groves for second last season, their highest Finals finish since also coming in second back-to-back in Fall 2007 and 2008. Six flights are seeded this time, all fourth or higher for their respective flights. Cameron Lee was a champion at No. 3 doubles last season and Jonny Cross was part of the runner-up at No. 2, and they make up the third seed this time at No. 1. Fred Kassab was part of the No. 4 doubles winner last year and is part of the fourth seed at No. 2, while his former championship partner Nolan Werner is part of the second seed at No. 3 doubles.

Mattawan’s Nathaniel Webster: Last season’s runner-up at No. 1 singles has moved up one spot to the top seed as a junior for his third run at the title as a seeded player at this flight.

Portage Northern Alex Wootton: Also a junior, Wootton moved up to the second seed at this flight after winning a match a year ago while unseeded. He made the quarterfinals while unseeded as a freshman in 2017.

Midland Dow’s Anish Middha: He’ll try to cap his career as a No. 1 singles champion, entering with the third seed after finishing runner-up at No. 2 last season and as a freshman in 2016.

Lower Peninsula Division 3 at Kalamazoo College

Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 3. Detroit Country Day.

Cranbrook Kingswood has won four straight Division 3 championships, with Country Day the runner-up all four seasons. Country Day won the previous four titles from 2011-14. No other team has won in Division 3 since Fall 2007, in fact. However, Greenhills is the reigning champion in Division 4 and has won that division nine of the last 11 seasons, finishing runner-up the other two. Greenhills won every flight at its Regional last week, with Country Day the runner-up at seven of those flights.

Ann Arbor Greenhills: All eight flights are seeded. Seven are top seeds, and the eighth is a second seed. Three flights were Division 4 champions a year ago – Mert Oral is the top seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 3 in D4, Kaan Oral is the top seed at No. 2 singles after winning No. 2 in D4 the last two years, and Nathan Rosenberg and Finn Feldeisen are the top seeds at No. 3 doubles after winning No. 3 in D4 in 2018. Rounding out the lineup are No. 3 singles top seed Rishi Verma, No. 4 singles second seed Chakor Rajendra, No. 1 doubles top seed Henry Branch and Sahil Deenadayalu, No. 2 doubles top seed Joey Formicola and Daniel Stojanov and No. 4 doubles top seed Alex Schwendeman and Thomas Zeng. Deenadayalu, Formicola and Branch are past Finals flight runners-up.

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: All eight flights are seeded, led by two second seeds – Hayes Bradley and David Hermelin at No. 2 doubles and Calvi Teste and Ben Conti at No. 4. Bradley and Hermelin were champs last year at No. 3 doubles and runners-up in 2017 at No. 4. The Cranes won all four singles flights last season and only one of those players returns – Nolan Sherwood is the fourth seed at No. 2 after winning No. 3 in 2018 – but fourth-seeded No. 4 Patrick Tiwari and third-seeded No. 3 Geoffrey Qin were part of champions at Nos. 2 and 4 doubles, respectively, a year ago.

Detroit Country Day: As noted, Country Day was right behind Greenhills in seven flights at the Regional, and a pair of second seeds highlight the fully-seeded lineup. Nikolas Gruskin is the second seed at No. 1 singles and a two-time Finals runner-up, at No. 1 last season and No. 2 in 2016. No. 3 doubles Clay Hartje and Aidan Khaghany also are a second seed. Fourth-seeded No. 3 singles Christian Grozev was the runner-up at that flight last year, and Zain Rodger is part of the fourth-seeded No. 1 doubles after finishing No. 4 singles runner-up in 2018.

St. Clair’s Eli Pinnoo: Last season’s No. 2 singles runner-up as a junior is the second seed at that flight this weekend as he takes one more swing at a high school title.

East Grand Rapids’ Ryan Post and Jack Schultze: Post and Kole Butterer won No. 1 doubles last season as a third seed, and Post and Schultze enter in the same spot this time. Schultze was part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up last season.

Lower Peninsula Division 4 at Hope College

Top-ranked: 1. Allegan, 2. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 3. Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard.

With Greenhills playing in Division 3, this tournament will have a different look and perhaps some interesting opportunities. Liggett was the Division 4 champion in 2016 and 2017 and runner-up in 2014 and 2015. Allegan has a long history of success but is working for its first top-two Finals finish, as is Gabriel Richard. In fact, the rest of the top 10 after Liggett – including two teams tied for the 10th spot – have won a combined three MHSAA Finals.

Allegan: The Tigers finished third a year ago, just three points out of second, after three doubles flights finished runners-up. The strength is in doubles again, as all four flights are seeded led by David Roark and Chase Williams in the top spot at No. 4. Noah Festerling and Ben Groth are the second seed at No. 3 after Groth was part of the No. 4 runner-up last season, and Owen Clearwater and Walker Michaels are the fifth seed at No. 2 after coming in second at No. 3 in 2018. Two singles flights are seeded as well; Eli Festerling is the top seed at No. 4.

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights are expected to climb substantially after tying for eighth a year ago. Liggett is seeded at six flights, with two-time reigning No. 1 singles champion William Cooksey leading off as the top seed at that flight. Gerry Sherer adds a second seed at No. 4 singles, and all four doubles are seeded with three in the third slot.

Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard: The Irish tied for fifth last season and could ride a strong singles lineup into contention. Senior Ian Sood is seeded second at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals last season and finishing No. 2 runner-up as both a freshman and sophomore. Tommy Heegan adds a second seed at No. 2, and Rafid Farjo is the third seed at No. 3.

Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Andrew Solarewicz: The sophomore singles standout will play in the No. 1 bracket for the second time, this weekend as the third seed after winning a match last season.

Traverse City St. Francis’ Brendan Chouinard and Ben Schmude: The top seed at No. 1 doubles is made up of Chouinard, part of last year’s No. 2 champion, and Schmude coming off the quarterfinals at No. 3 a year ago.

Traverse City St. Francis’ Charlie Schmude and Cody Richards: They are seeded first at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, after finishing runners-up at Nos. 3 and 4 a year ago.

PHOTO: Kaan Oral will attempt to lead Ann Arbor Greenhills to a Division 3 championship this weekend as he also plays for a third individual flight Finals title. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)