Rivals Share D1 Title, Baylis Ends on Top
October 19, 2019
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
MIDLAND – Tom Pullen was just glad to be in the hunt.
The 28-year Ann Arbor Pioneer head coach, who is 75½ years old, had his team in a dead heat with rival Huron for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 boys tennis title Saturday at the Midland Tennis Center. They were separated by one point, 21-20, going into semifinal play.
“I don’t care whether we win or lose,’’ Pullen said at that point. “This is a Cinderella group. We’re young. I’m losing three great net players, but it has been a long time since we’ve been in contention. This keeps me revitalized. We’ve had a great year. We knew Huron would be here. They’re a powerful team. We’ve beaten them a few times, and they’ve beaten us. We don’t really care about rankings. The kids have beaten teams ranked higher than them, so it doesn’t matter.
“No matter what, it has been a great year.’’
Two rounds later, the rivals finished in a tie and as co-champions. Pioneer won its last three matches to deadlock the score 27-27, capturing a share of the crown.
The key match late in the day was at No. 3 doubles with top-seeded Huron pair Sammy Clyde and Jacob Hejazi against Pioneer’s Drake Malcolm and Evan Roopas for the fourth time this year.
Clyde had been part of a doubles title last year and needed a win with Hejazi to clinch the team championship.
“We tied the first match because we couldn’t finish,’’ said Hejazi of the rivalry with Pioneer. “We won one and they won one, so this is the tie breaker. It’s easier because we know their weaknesses, but they also know ours.’’
Pioneer prevailed, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to pave the way for a possible team tie.
While No. 3 doubles was fighting it out, Isaac Herrenkohl also kept Pioneer’s hopes alive with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over top seed Noah Fascewski of Clarkston in No. 3 singles.
Pioneer and Huron have not only battled in conference play, but on the big stage.
Bloomfield Hills won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, but before that the River Rats won in 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2008.
Pullen, who started playing tennis when he was 35, and Pioneer won the fall and spring team title in 2007 along with championships in 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 and 2002. Pioneer tied for first in 2001 with Birmingham Brother Rice.
Despite being out of the team picture, Clarkston had three players make it to a singles final at Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
At No. 1 singles, Clarkston’s Luke Baylis took advantage of a fatigued J.J. Etterbeek of Birmingham Rice to capture the crown, 6-2, 6-0. He joined his sister Lexi as a Finals champ, as she won No. 2 singles in 2011. Luke Baylis had made the No. 1 semifinals the last two seasons and finished No. 2 runner-up as a freshman.
“I tried to play my game and not focus on what was going on around me,’’ said Luke Baylis. “I could tell he was a little tired. I just worked the points really well and tried to stay in every point. This was my last match, so I tried to grind out every point.’’
Huron’s first flight title of the tournament came in No. 2 doubles as Nick Grosh and TJ Bai downed Pioneer’s Brendan Karsch and Aditya Abbaraju 6-1, 6-2.
“We’ve played them five times this year and five times last year,’’ said Bai, a junior. “We’ve been the top seed the last three years, and I think the past two years we choked. We got beat in the semis.
“This was important for my team. I thought we controlled the match from the start. Because the team title was at stake, the pressure was on.’’
Moments after their victory, Huron’s top-seeded No. 4 doubles team of Nikhil Gandikota and Vincent Tremonti finished defeating Northville’s Rachit Jain and Rohith Kesamneni, 6-3, 6-4.
“We beat them during the regular season, but during the state tournament anything can happen,’’ said Tremonti.
Said Gandikota: “They were hard, but both matches against Northville and (in the semifinal Detroit) CC were tough. The Catholic Central match went three sets and that was rough; we started out slow. Against Northville we upped our energy and maintained it.’’
Old friends battled it out in No. 2 singles with second-seed Frank Piana from Clarkston facing top seed Jan Nallani from Troy. Nallani made it two wins on the year against Piana with a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
“We’ve known each other since we were 10 years old,’’ said Piana, the No. 3 singles champ in 2018. “I’ve had just one loss this season, and it was to him. We’re good friends. It puts a different spin on the match.’’
Okemos’ No. 1 doubles team of Druv Talluri and Siddharth Nagisetty formed an experienced duo. Talluri and Nagisetty both won 2017 doubles titles in Division 2 with different teammates – Nagisetty with Rohan Shah at No. 2 and Talluri with Deniz Kalfa at No. 3. In 2018, Talluri won No. 2 with Shrey Patel and Nagisetty was runner-up at No. 3 with Aditya Kandula.
This time, Talluri and Nagisetty teamed up to form the top seed in the top flight and in the final defeated Huron’s Max Brodkey and Anvit Rao 6-1, 6-3.
“After my win freshman year in 2017, some of the players changed positions and I lost my then-partner to a singles position” said Nagisetty. “We lost in the finals in 2018, so this year I was a little more focused on my fitness and conditioning. I cramped up last year in the finals. I was not going to let it happen again.
“It was a higher flight, one doubles. Druv is great. He has a great forehand and backhand and has a super good volley. That was awesome to end the season this way!’’
PHOTOS: (Top) Clarkston’s Luke Baylis returns a volley during his No. 1 singles semifinal at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Ann Arbor Huron’s Max Brodkey and Anvit Rao get together during their No. 1 doubles semifinal win. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Liggett Outlasts Greenhills for D4 Repeat
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2017
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
NOVI – With its second straight Division 4 team title minutes from being locked up, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett received a scare when William Cooksey, the second seed at No. 1 singles, went down writhing in pain after hurting his left wrist.
At the time, the team title was still on the line and he was up against Evan Sood of Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, 6-1, 2-1.
After getting his left wrist wrapped, the freshman continued and prevailed 6-1, 6-3.
“I fell and it caught me off guard,’’ said Cooksey. “I fell awkwardly on it. There was no way I wasn’t going to finish. It’s just sore now.”
He scored five points on the weekend, but his final point ended up not needed as the Knights had already defended their title by edging Ann Arbor Greenhills, eventually claiming a 34-32 victory Saturday afternoon at Novi High School. Traverse City St. Francis finished third with 28 points.
“I thought it was broken when he went down; he’s still good enough to get the job done,’’ said Coach Mark Sobieralski of Cooksey’s injury. “He’s a tough kid and a good athlete.
“We’ve revived the program. Six guys on this team are four-year varsity starters. The experience was helpful. In three matches in the semis we met up with Greenhills, and we won all three. In two of the three there were match points against us.’’
High drama filled the air as three teams had a legitimate chance at winning the team title.
After dominating the Lower Peninsula’s Division 4 for eight years under longtime coach Eric Gajar, Greenhills finished second to Liggett last year.
“They’re a good team; they deserved it,’’ said Gajar. “I’m proud of my guys.’’
Friday’s first rounds left a three-team fight between Liggett, Greenhills and Traverse City St. Francis going into the semifinals, with each team sitting at 24 points.
Top-ranked Liggett and No. 2 Greenhills started to separate themselves going into the championship flight. Liggett had 31 points with Greenhills two behind at 29 and St. Francis trailing with 26.
However, the Gladiators and Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard had a chance to play spoiler with four spots in the finals.
Greenhills got one point closer when Kaan Oral beat Ian Sood of Gabriel Richard, 6-3, 6-2, for the No. 2 singles championship. It was the third time Oral beat Sood this season.
“Obviously this means a lot,’’ said Oral, a sophomore. “Winning eight years in a row and then losing last year was tough. We’ve all worked very hard all year to try and get back to where it belongs. It’s a dogfight. They’re working hard and they want it, and we want it even more.
“Ian is very consistent on the baseline and I just don’t try to give him any easy points.’’
Greenhills evened the team score when Drake Rosenberg and Taha Zirapury beat Matthew Lesha and Craig Buhler of Liggett 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 3 doubles.
“We lost to them pretty bad earlier in the year,’’ said Zirapury. “Liggett was the only team we hadn’t beaten. I was really nervous, and in the first set it was difficult for us getting balls back. Later in the first set we kind of figured it out, what’s Liggett’s game. We played against it, and that helped us come out on top.’’
St. Francis senior Nathan Sodini denied Liggett a point at No. 3 singles, beating Casey Scoggin, 6-1, 6-2 for that flight title.
“We set a team record for points scored at the final yesterday (Friday), so it’s cool being able to get to this point,” Sodini said. “I had played (Scoggin) before. We’re just all trying to beat each other – St. Francis, Greenhills and Liggett. We lost some close matches in the semifinals, so we’re just trying to get as many points as we can.’’
Liggett came through at No. 2 doubles with top-seeded Thomas Van Pelt and Spencer Warezak beating Sushruta Shankar and Joey Formicola of Greenhills, 6-7 (6-2), 6-2, 6-4.
“I try not to think about (the team title), but it’s very stressful,’’ said Van Pelt. “After the first set we had a really good meeting with our head coach Mark (Sobieralski) and our assistant coach. We didn’t play that well, and we still almost won it. That gave us confidence. We were reminded that we’re a team. We put it to them in the second set.’’
Liggett extended its team lead when Andrew Staricco, the top seed at No. 4 singles, beat Greenhills’ Nathan Rosenberg, 6-4, 6-2.
At No. 1 doubles Jack Harris and Trey Feldeisen of Greenhills defeated Alec Azar and Maddie Fozo of Liggett, 6-3, 7-5.
PHOTOS: (Top) University Liggett's William Cooksey returns a volleyball during a No. 1 singles match Saturday at Novi. (Middle) Greenhills' Nathan Rosenberg unloads during a match at No. 4 singles. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)