Perfect Ending to Sienko's Story
November 1, 2012
B y Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
If Michael Sienko could re-play the last three years of his school tennis career, he’d hope for them to play out the same way.
That would mean experiencing again the disappointment of falling in two straight MHSAA championship matches. But those moments of frustration would be more than worth reliving this season, which ended two weeks ago with the Division 4 championship at No. 1 singles.
“Winning my last match is not something a lot of guys can say, and I think it’s cool that I lost twice in the state finals and ended up winning it. It’s a good story,” Sienko said. “It taught me lessons about not giving up and just working hard to accomplish my goals, and that’s what I did.”
In fact, Sienko didn’t lose a high school match in 2012. The Williamston senior gets a Second Half High 5 after finishing 28-0 this fall to run his career record to 102-8. The championship actually was Sienko’s second – he also won the Division 4 title at No. 2 singles as a freshman.
But much has changed since Sienko joined the Hornets varsity in 2009, playing the second position behind his older brother Peter, who finished MHSAA runner-up that season.
Michael was a slight 5-foot-3 then, before hitting a growth spurt at the end of his freshman year that helped him get to 5-10.
But he still had growing to do to set up this perfect season.
Sienko’s league, the Capital Area Activities Conference White, has produced the last three Division 4 champions at No. 1 singles. In 2010, Sienko lost to then-junior Paul Heeder of Lansing Catholic, 6-4, 6-2, after advancing to the final by beating the No. 1 seed. But Sienko entered last season’s Finals as the top seed and beat Heeder in a semifinal match – before then falling to second-seeded Chance Conley of Portland, 6-4, 6-2 again.
Heeder graduated in the spring, but Conley also is a senior this fall. That meant the two of them could meet at least four times – including a rematch in the Final at Kalamazoo College.
Fueled by the 2011 loss, Sienko got to work. He played more during the offseason and did more conditioning. He also hit the weight room – “It’s not like I was benching 250 or something, like the football guys, one, two, three and drop the weight,” he said – and focused on high-rep workouts that added explosiveness and velocity to his shots.
He also did some mental training, with the help of his older brother. Peter Sienko plays for Army, and texted Michael frequently before matches, mostly to help build his brother’s confidence. “Tennis, a lot of it is mental,” Michael said. “It’s confidence. If you’re not getting down on yourself, chances are you’re going to win. If you’re down on yourself, there’s really no help for you.”
Sienko did indeed see Conley in their final high school match. And this time, Sienko came out on top 6-1, 6-0.
“Michael had a goal all season to win states, and he worked very hard to achieve it,” Williamston coach Jenny Nalepa said. “He has a great attitude on and off the court and set an example for all the other players on the team.”
Williamston ended up 11th as a team at the Division 4 Final, and Sienko helping his teammates was a big part of his final season. He’ll get the chance to play at the collegiate level – his favorites are Army and Air Force – but this fall was about team, and when the Hornets lost, he was disappointed too although he’d won his point. He enjoys leading and fell into that position easily as a senior.
That’s how he’d like to be remembered, as much for his perfect season and his two championships.
“I gave 100 percent every time I played, and I definitely tried to play for Williamston and not myself,” Sienko said. “Because that’s the bigger picture.”
PHOTO: Williamston's Michael Sienko returns a volleyball during the MHSAA Division 4 Final at Kalamazoo College. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Cranes Take Back Top Spot from D3 Rival
October 17, 2015
By Greg Buckner
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND — For the last four years, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood had to watch Detroit Country Day hoist the Division 3 Lower Peninsula boys tennis championship trophy.
On Saturday, the Cranes turned the tables, winning the MHSAA Final with 38 points to leave the Yellowjackets settling for second with 30 at Hope College.
“I think for our seniors, it’s fantastic,” Cranbrook Kingswood coach Jeff Etterbeek said. “These guys have watched that trophy presentation for four years now, and for them to have this day was really exciting. Country Day obviously has a great program — they’re one of the top five programs in the state in all divisions.
“We had to beat them three times (this season) and we did. I’m really proud of this team, especially the leadership that our seniors came out with today.”
The win was especially sweet after Country Day beat Cranbrook Kingswood by seven points for the LP Division 3 championship last year — and the Cranes did it in dominating fashion Saturday by winning all but two flight finals on the day.
“It’s so surreal watching Country Day come away with the title the last four years and being able to take it away for my senior year; it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Cranbrook Kingswood senior Marc Sable said. “Just this group of guys — they’re my best friends. Just the depth with our team and (Country Day) is crazy.
“When you have a team like us where from No. 1 singles to No. 4 doubles that has some great team chemistry, that lets us have such great results and we were able to come away with the title.”
Cranbrook Kingswood held on to its two-point first-day lead on the Yellowjackets thanks to a clean sweep of all four doubles flights.
Nolan Trepeck and Matthew Gerard started it off with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Country Day’s Damian Runkle and Adam Junn at the first flight. Chase Ghesquiere and Steven Meng beat Country Day’s Ryan Murakawa and Ricky Wamicke 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2; Brandon Kerr and Colin Petzold topped Country Day’s Kavon Rahmani and Joe Zhang 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3; and Andrew Du and Jacob Yellen claimed a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Holland Christian’s Brady Brower and Ethan Mouw in the No. 4 flight final.
“I think over the year, our doubles teams have all been very strong,” Etterbeek said. “I felt coming in here that was where we had to win this. Country Day has great singles, Holland Christian has great singles and we have great singles.
“But I thought the edge would be in the doubles for us, and that certainly proved to be true.”
The Cranes also won the No. 2 and No. 4 singles flight titles. Benji Jacobson topped Country Day’s Jakob Gahn 6-1, 6-0 at the second flight final and Justin Luo edged Country Day’s Alex Mettler 6-1, 6-0 for the fourth flight title.
The hometown Maroons placed fourth with 17 points, trailing third-place East Grand Rapids by three, but JP Avila won the No. 1 singles title with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sable for the first MHSAA title at the top singles flight in program history.
“It’s pretty crazy to think that it’s my first year playing here at Holland Christian and being able to do this is not only cool for myself, but for the school and the team as well,” said Avila, who was born in Holland but lived in China and Mexico before returning. “It’s an honor to be able to do it and play for Holland Christian. … I think it will be a couple days until I realize what I’ve done.”
The Yellowjackets’ Michael Khaghany beat Cranbrook Kingswood’s Michael Bian 6-1, 6-3 for the No. 3 singles flight title — and it was only fitting that the two state powers that have combined to win the last seven Division 3 titles would square off in six of the flight championships Saturday.
“Cranbrook was better and we gave effort. We played better today, but they played better than we did,” Country Day coach Tom Ellis said. “You’re probably looking at the two best teams in the state. We’ve played the Novis, the Cranbrooks and played Division 1 teams. You’re looking at Cranbrook as the best team in the state — and we’re not far behind.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood tennis players pose with their MHSAA championship trophy. (Middle) Holland Christian's JP Avila returns a shot during his run to the No. 1 singles title. (Below) Country Day's Adam Junn returns a shot during his No. 1 doubles final. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)