Different Team, Same Result for Country Day
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2013
KALAMAZOO — Behind his blistering serve, senior Garrett Goldman accomplished a tennis hat trick at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championships, moved inside at Kalamazoo College’s Markin Racquet Center because of rain Saturday.
The East Grand Rapids senior won an MHSAA title at No. 1 singles, clinched second place for his team and kept Detroit Country Day from scoring a perfect 40 points.
Paul Ballard, tournament chairman, said this was an unusually competitive tournament.
“We had three teams with nearly perfect scores: Detroit Country Day up through the semifinals was perfect, East Grand Rapids and St. Joe were one point each from perfect,” he said. “It made for a very tight race up at the top.”
Goldman’s win gave EGR 27 points, one better than St. Joseph. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood was fourth with 20 points.
With just three seniors on the championship team, coach Josh Molino said he’s excited for the future of Country Day tennis.
“Last year, we had a senior-loaded team that did a phenomenal job,” Molino said. “We were one set away from getting 40 (points). This season, it’s a different team: a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys.
“These guys play in the offseason. Each year we come back with a new set of goals of getting better each practice. I think that translates to getting better each match, and hopefully, we’re playing the best tennis come October toward the state tournament.”
The top-seeded Goldman, who defeated Country Day senior Rishi Patel, the third seed, 7-5, 6-4, knew his win would give his team sole possession of second place.
“I did know and that’s why I tried my best,” Goldman said. “I went out there expecting a tough match and I played my heart out and I got it done.
“I played him earlier in the season in a meet in EGR and won 6-2, 6-4. It did give me some confidence. I also beat (second seed Thomas Bellio, St. Joe); he played in the semis, so I went into this tournament pretty confident, expecting to win.”
Goldman took his first lead of the second set at 4-3.
“I sort of came to the realization that I needed to win and I needed to close it out,” he said. “I wasn’t about to let it go to a third set. I tried my hardest.”
Patel, who moved up from No. 3 singles last year, said he’s never faced a serve as hard as Goldman’s.
“He was probably serving above 110 mph and when it went in, it was hard to get back,” Patel said. “It was pretty hard to return indoors.
“It made a little bit of a difference (playing indoors) just because he hits a bigger ball than me. Outdoors, I can use the wind to my advantage and play more defense.”
Although Patel has two MHSAA titles at No. 3 singles, “This (third consecutive team championship) is more important, even though I lost, because I’m a senior.”
Molino credits Patel with the team’s success.
“He stepped up and really led this group of young guys,” the coach said. “We filled six or seven guys into the lineup and we worked hard all year. We had a goal of winning state again.”
EGR junior Grant Bailey gave Country Day sophomore Noah Karoub a battle at No. 2 singles with Karoub, the top seed, winning 7-5, 6-4, in one of the last matches on court.
“I liked being one of the last (on court),” Karoub said. “The (very loud) crowd is really important. It gives you confidence and makes you play better. I was grinding it out.”
Bailey said it was the second time this season he’s lost to Karoub. The first time was in a third-set tiebreak.
“Noah’s a great player,” Bailey said. “Congrats to him. I know he’s just going to scrap it out. I don’t think he missed a ball the whole match.
Bailey was playing on the court next to Goldman.
“I was watching Garrett’s match the whole time,” Bailey said. “I’m so happy for him. The team did fine. I’m really excited for us.”
Being one of the final matches, “I had the whole place watching,” an exuberant Bailey said after learning his team finished second. “Garrett just won, so we have the best player in the state. I’ve got the whole team cheering me on. It was a great experience.
“I love my team, what can I say. I’m really proud of our doubles. They were a big question mark coming in and they stepped up.”
EGR coach Mickey Mikesell had no idea his team finished second.
“I don’t follow that stuff,” he said. “I get out here in the trenches and watch the matches. I don’t really sit back there and count too much because I’d rather stay focused on these guys.
“Garrett is a personal student of mine at MVP, Grand Rapids, so it’s a pretty special day for me as his high school coach and his personal coach.”
Mikesell said his team is designed for tournament play.
“For example, we played Cranbrook earlier and lost three matches to five,” he said. “We played St. Joseph earlier and lost two matches to six.
“We’re all good teams, but from top to bottom, we have a lot of depth. And when you go to tournament play, you can have success that way.”
At No. 3 singles, second-seeded Jakob Gahn, a Country Day sophomore, defeated St. Joseph’s top seed, Kenny Garstecki, 7-6(4), 6-1.
“(Gahn) could pull off the winning shot,” Garstecki, a senior, said. “Other players couldn’t hit that winning shot. It’s just inches that separate wins from losses. In the first set, it was a tiebreaker, so it was pretty tight. He just played a little bit better in that tiebreaker.”
Brendan Childress and Andrew Joslyn, the top seeds on Country Day’s No. 4 doubles team, defeated second seeds Steven Meng and Alex Hubers, Cranbrook-Kingswood, 6-4, 6-3, to clinch the team title, even though they were the first finals match to finish.
Gahn said knowing the team already clinched didn’t make a difference in the way he played.
“Both things are important: the team victory and the individual victory,” he said. “I feel good that we won as a team and I feel good that I won as an individual.
“(Garstecki) played some great tennis. I feel like I was more consistent and more aggressive in the second. I came to the net more. In the first set, I was too passive and let him dictate the point, which he did remarkably well, as I learned.”
A pair of freshmen battled it out at No. 4 singles with top-seeded Davis Wong, Country Day, defeating No. 2 Ahmeir Kyle, St. Joseph, 6-0, 6-4.
Wong said he knew a week before that he could be facing a girl in the final.
“I know she’s a good player,” he said. “I looked up her records and she has really good statistics. I knew coming in, it would be a hard match whoever I played in the finals.
“In the second set, her game rose a lot and we had a battle. She played really well. She changed up her tactics and I just had to adapt to them.”
Garstecki said Kyle is a good addition to the team.
“She’s really good,” he said. “It’s good to play against her (in practice). She hits the ball really hard.”
Said St. Joe coach Pat Hoffman: “Ahmeir has played in our summer program for years and has been on USTA teams, so she seemed to be a natural fit.”
Kyle didn’t lose a set until the finals.
“I was giving away points in the first set,” she said. “In the second set I started serving and volleying more and I was a little more consistent.”
PHOTOS: Detroit Country Day doubles player Blake Burstein (left), coach Josh Molino (center) and No. 1 singles player Rishi Patel pose with their Division 3 championship trophy. (Photo courtesy of Detroit Country Day boys tennis.)
Greenhills Near-Perfect in New Division
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2019
KALAMAZOO — Saturday was a perfect day for tennis and almost perfect for Ann Arbor Greenhills.
The Gryphons grabbed 39 of 40 points to win the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Boys Tennis Finals at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Detroit Country Day tied for second with 24 points each, while East Grand Rapids and St. Clair tied for fourth with 22.
This is the first year in Division 3 for Greenhills, the D-4 reigning champ who had won that division nine of the last 11 years.
“We were looking forward to coming in to see what it’s like (in D-3),” Greenhills coach Eric Gajar said.
“It lived up to expectations. There are a lot of very good teams here on the second day of the tournament. We did well (Friday), but the kids felt it was a step up.”
Greenhills, which clinched the team title in the semifinal round, had the top seed in every flight except No. 4 singles.
That was a motivator for Gryphons freshman Chakor Rajendra, the second seed at that flight.
“He had a little chip on his shoulder because he had such a good year and was undefeated,” Gajar said.
“But then in three doubles, we were the one seed and lost to some guys seeded lower. That’s why you go out and play. Anything can happen.”
Rajendra defeated the top seed, St. Clair freshman Ian Pinnoo, 6-3, 6-3, and lost just two games heading into the final.
“I never knew that high school tennis could be this fun,” he said. “I’m part of a great team with so many amazing people.
“I learned a lot from this experience. I play USTA tournaments, and this is going to definitely transfer some of these things I’ve learned and help me become a better player and a better person overall.”
As for being seeded second, “I wanted to prove that I had what it took to be a state champion,” he said.
“I just wanted to do the best I could. Seeding is great, but in the end it doesn’t matter.”
Playing on adjacent courts, a pair of brothers, Kaan and Mert Oral, also took home championship medals.
At No. 1 singles, Mert, a sophomore, defeated St. Clair’s third seed, Derek Distelrath, 6-4, 6-2.
At No. 2, Kaan, a senior, beat St. Clair’s second seed, Eli Pinnoo, in a 6-2, 7-6(11) barn-burner.
Playing behind his younger brother is not a problem for the senior.
“Last year he played No. 3 singles, and I played No. 2,” Kaan Oral said. “He grew a lot and got a lot better. I’m happy for him.”
The No. 1 singles match finished first and “I didn’t want him to one-up me,” the senior said.
“There were intervals in my match when I was somewhat distracted with his match a little bit because I wanted him to win so badly, especially since he was down in his first set and had to claw back.”
Oral was up 2-0 in the second set, but then the momentum changed.
“(Pinnoo) hit some good shots, attacked more and was more aggressive,” he said. “I had like 10 set points.”
Pinnoo said the cheers from teammates helped motivate him.
“I kept fighting, keeping him in the point, making him move, tiring him out,” Pinnoo said.
“I just don’t give up and keep fighting for every point. I was trying to win for the team.”
Mert Oral admitted that being a top seed leads to a bit of extra pressure.
“I just tried not to focus on the seed (Friday) and play my way into the tournament and get a feel for everything.
“(Saturday), I was really able to find my A game.”
In the semifinal, “The guy (No. 4 seed Ben Collins of East Grand Rapids) brought the best out of me, and in the finals that was a great match. I was able to just get by.
“I mean, I had to come back in the first. It was just trusting my game.”
Distelrath upset No. 2 seed Nikolas Gruskin of Detroit Country Day, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinal.
“It felt good because I lost to him in a full third during the regular season, and I was glad I got to play him again and get a chance to get some revenge,” he said.
Facing Oral, “He’s very good,” Distelrath said. “I went in with the mentality that I’ll give my best and work my hardest until I’m out of gas.”
At No. 3 singles, another freshman, Rishi Verma, defeated St. Clair’s Michael Mascarin, the second seed, 6-3, 6-2.
Verma was broken twice to start the match down 0-3, but “it feels nice to bring it back and then bring it home.
“I generally don’t like to be the top seed, actually, because of the pressure. But I guess it worked out this time.”
Verma said he was inspired by his teammates.
“I looked at my teammates, and they were all fighting, too,” he said. “I was like, we came all this way.
“You’ve just gotta push, gotta put in that effort and find that extra gear, and I did.”
Detroit Country Day’s second seeds at No. 3 doubles, Clay Hartje and Aidan Khaghany, spoiled Greenhills’ team sweep attempt with a 6-4, 6-3 win over top seeds Nathan Rosenberg and Finn Feldeisen.
Both teams advanced to the finals with three-set wins in their semifinals.
At No. 1 doubles, Henry Branch and Sahil Deenadayalu defeated Grant Moorhead and Tanner Warners, the second seeds from Grand Rapids Christian, 6-1, 6-1.
At No. 2, Joey Formicola and Daniel Stojanov beat Cranbrook’s second seeds, Hayes Bradley and David Hermelin, 6-3, 6-2.
At No. 4, Alex Schwendeman and Thomas Zeng defeated Cranbrook’s second seeds, Calvi Teste and Ben Conti, 6-2, 6-3.
PHOTOS: (Top) Greenhills’ Kaan Oran reacts after winning a 13-11 second-set tie-break at No. 2 singles. (Middle) Greenhills’ Chakor Rajendra. (Below) St. Clair's Michael Mascarin serves at No. 3 singles. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)