FH Northern Finishes Perfect Repeat Run
October 16, 2020
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
MIDLAND – The effects of COVID-19 on the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals were obvious Friday morning.
For starters, the crowds were much smaller at the Midland Tennis Center. Due to COVID-19 precautions, the tournament was switched to a head-to-head team format that saw a total of 64 teams spread out through four divisions and 16 sites.
But at the Division 2 Final, the end result remained the same as the season before.
Top-seeded and undefeated Forest Hills Northern took on No. 2 seed Mattawan. The No. 2 doubles team of Aaryan Singh and Jack Sparhawk sealed the championship for Northern with their 6-0, 6-2 victory over Carson Brinks and Sam Sullivan the fifth and deciding point.
“I’m just glad the MHSAA figured out a way for us to play,’’ said Singh. “This is sweeter for me than last year because this is my first year as a starter. A month ago, I didn’t know if we’d even get a chance to play.’’
“I love the format,’’ said Northern coach David Sukup. “I’m a team coach anyway. I coach football, I coach swimming, I coach baseball. I like the team format. It’s better. It’s better for kids. Everybody is involved. You get to sit and watch all of your kids in the finals. We see all eight flights.’’
Clearly the most entertaining match was at No. 1 singles where the effervescent Nathaniel Webster of Mattawan took on Northern’s Peter Renucci.
Distributing enough energy for himself and his teammates, Webster’s enthusiasm was infectious as he yelled and screamed throughout the match, encouraging his teammates in the process. His 6-2, 6-1 victory was one of the few bright spots for Mattawan.
The reigning champs were unfazed by the rain and cold, which forced part of the semifinal flight indoors.
Owen Goodrich got the first points for Northern at No. 4 singles, beating Andrews Williams 6-1, 6-0. Moments later Northern was up 2-0 after the No. 3 doubles team of Drew McKenzie and Luke Zhu prevailed, 6-4, 6-0.
“I was glad we didn’t play outdoors,’’ said Goodrich. “It’s nice and warm and comfortable inside. The thing about this format is I’m out there trying to win and I’m looking over at each side cheering my teammates on. This is definitely a team format.’’
Northern’s Ryan Lee won the No. 3 singles match, 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 while teammate Sid Varma won at No. 2 in three sets after also dropping the first. Justin Lee and Cole Rynbrandt at No. 1 doubles and Ryan Stewart and Anderson Halland at No. 4 both won in straight sets.
Just before the final was about to start outdoors, ominous weather appeared and the rest of the tournament was moved inside.
“Outdoors, indoors, outdoors … it’s a different way to try to win the title,’’ said Sukup. “We won the title last year. We’re glad we’re in the finals with a different format. Long day.”
Mattawan coach Matt Boven also liked the different format.
“It has been a really tough journey to get here, but I feel like my guys are playing their best tennis and they’re ready to go,” he said.
“I absolutely love the format. In years past you’ll have a couple of flights remaining and everyone is kind of sitting around waiting. With this format you truly figure out who is the best team. That’s the nature of the MHSAA; find the best team and find the best player. I feel like this format unequivocally does that.
“I will push for it next year. Right now, I have all 12 of my players on the court trying to determine a championship. I think that’s the way it should be.’’
In the semifinals, Northern faced Birmingham Seaholm and prevailed 6-2, while Forest Hills Central couldn’t advance to face Northern for a third time this season, falling to Mattawan, 5-3.
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Northern’s Peter Renucci awaits a serve during Friday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Mattawan No. 1 singles standout Nathaniel Webster led his team to a runner-up finish. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
On Track to Finish as Rochester's All-Time Best, Anderson Seeking Program 1st
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 12, 2023
ROCHESTER HILLS — Sometimes it’s unfair to ask a coach where a particular player ranks in the program history of a sport, mainly because that particular coach simply hasn’t been around the school long enough or record books aren’t up to date.
But the question of where senior Clayton Anderson ranks in program history certainly can be a fair one to Rochester High School tennis coach Jerry Murphy.
This fall marks Murphy’s 52nd year coaching tennis at Rochester, so if there is any historical perspective that resonates more than others, it’s his.
Given that, his word is as good as anybody’s as to whether Anderson is the all-time best to play for the school’s boys tennis program.
“When it’s all said and done, I think I’m going to have to say that,” Murphy said.
Murphy said Anderson is approaching 100 career wins and will have the school record for the boys program by the time the season is over.
Rochester has never had an MHSAA Finals individual champion in boys tennis, but Anderson certainly has come as close as possible the last two years.
Anderson has advanced to the Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship match at No. 1 singles two years in a row, falling both times to Northville’s Sachiv Kumar.
After winning a Regional title on Wednesday, Anderson will be back for another crack at next week’s Finals tournament in Midland.
“I think that my approach to the tournament will be a little different,” Anderson said. “Just take it one match at a time. Try and feel good in the early rounds, and hopefully as I get to the later ones, I’ll be well-adapted to hit the hardest and play my best tennis.”
Anderson’s only loss so far this fall was to Kumar in a dual match, so it’s likely he’ll be the No. 2 seed.
Last year, Anderson defeated Kumar in the regular season before Kumar avenged that loss in the championship match, so Anderson will try and do the same this time.
Murphy said he has noticed a big difference in Anderson’s game since that most recent match against Kumar, saying that it almost “woke him up” a bit.
In particular, Murphy said there’s one part of Anderson’s game that has noticeably improved.
“He’s always been a great baseliner,” he said “He loves to sit back and play from the baseline. This year, what he’s added to his game is that his serve has really improved.”
Anderson’s father, Greg, actually was a standout in the 1990s at rival Rochester Adams.
Clayton Anderson said he started playing competitive tennis when he was 10 years old, and has loved the individual component of the sport his entire life.
“I love competing by myself,” Anderson said. “I think it’s unique. You don’t really get that with other sports you grew up with. You learn values through playing that you would not pick up playing a sport with teammates to rely on.”
Anderson, who will play in college at Cal Poly, might have an immediate threat to any tennis records and accolades he continues to accrue at Rochester.
His younger brother Chad is a sophomore and is in line to take over at No. 1 singles when Clayton is done.
“I try to give him wisdom and experience that I’ve picked up along the way,” Clayton Anderson said. “I think it’s good, and I think he’s on a good track to be similar to how I am right now.”
Indeed, maybe Murphy in a couple of years will have a debate as to which Anderson was the best to play at Rochester.
But for the moment, all eyes are on Clayton to see if he can finish a historic career by doing something nobody at his school has done before.
“Maybe he’ll top his older brother,” Murphy said of Chad. “But right now Clayton is the man of the hour in terms of whether he can do it next week and become the first in our history.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester's Clayton Anderson returns a volley during last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Anderson gets to a ball along the baseline. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)