Shaya Brothers Run Individual Title Count to 7 in Pacing Bloomfield Hills 3-Peat
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2024
BYRON CENTER – There may not be a sibling rivalry, but there's plenty of talent.
Bloomfield Hills senior Pierce Shaya can definitively say there is no goal of one-upping his younger brother, Connor, when it comes to their impressive tennis careers. In fact, Pierce said having his brother on the team only makes him better.
"Motivation," he said. "There's definitely not a rivalry."
The two closed out stellar seasons in helping the Blackhawks win Saturday's MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals championship in Byron Center. Pierce won his fourth individual flight title, while Connor added his third as Bloomfield Hills finished with 35 points to 27 for runner-up Troy. Northville was third with 20 points, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice next with 13, and Ann Arbor Skyline and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek had 12 points each.
Pierce, headed to Michigan next season, defeated Chad Anderson of Rochester 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Connor upped his career record to 81-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Quentin Rangi of Rochester Hills Stoney Creek at No. 2 singles.
Pierce had previously won No. 3 singles as a freshman, No. 1 doubles as a sophomore and No. 2 singles as a junior. Connor won No. 4 and No. 3 singles the last two years, respectively. The two represent arguably the best one-two punch in the state, Bloomfield Hills coach Greg Burks said.
"As a coach, you're looking to have that type of talent at the top," said Burks, whose team title was its third straight. "Not every coach has that, and we're lucky as a team to have it."
The Shaya brothers took different paths this season. Pierce said he didn't play his best tennis until the last couple weeks, while Connor said Saturday’s was the toughest of his three titles. Pierce said he couldn't find any rhythm until playing in a recent USTA event in Midland.
"It's been my worst year," he said. "I wasn't able to find any rhythm, but a lot of it turned in that tournament. I came back from there, it was a changeup for me, and I kind of had to find my way. I won a couple matches, and I think it helped me get in the mood for this weekend."
Connor, who was seeded No. 2 despite his previous postseason success, said increased pressure after winning two previous titles was something he knew he had to overcome.
"Every year is different, and this is a lot off my shoulders," he said. "There was a lot of competition here. A lot of older players who hit the ball hard. The odds were against me; people thought I would lose."
Bloomfield Hills also earned titles in three other flights. Zev Spiegel defeated Ann Arbor Huron's Aarav Dalal 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, while two Black Hawks doubles teams won. The No. 1 pair of Asher Langwell and Dominic Pascarella defeated Nick Song and Josh Kim of Northville 6-4, 7-6 (2), and Meyer Saperstein and Sajan Doshi downed Northville's Nathan Shields and Anderson Herdoiza 6-5, 6-2 at No. 3 doubles.
Bloomfield Hills' Brady Winston also made a final before losing to Troy's Dheera Yelleti 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
Troy's Jackson Kraus and Raghav Karur defeated Suraj Makunar and Shreyan Muddappa of Troy Athens at No. 4 doubles 6-0, 6-3. Northville's No. 2 doubles team of Nikhil Karmani and Brian Zang defeated Troy's Varun Shetty and Anthony Wu 7-6 (8), 2-6, 7-5..
Burks, finishing up his 20th year as coach, said another team title was anything but a certainly three months ago when the season opened. Bloomfield Hills had to plug numerous holes from last year's championship lineup.
"I told the kids what they did was nothing short of spectacular," he said. "I don't if they realize how hard this was and what we did. Every match we grew as a team. It was a learning process, and we weathered the storm.
"We have depth, a lot of depth. We have a lot of neighboring clubs who've done a great job. We wouldn't have done this without their amazing jobs."
Spiegel, a sophomore, said the coaches did an outstanding job nurturing a young team.
"It was a great season," he said. "The coaches told us we weren't always going to win, but that we were here for a reason. Coach said we could win it all if we didn't do silly things."
PHOTOS (Top) Bloomfield Hills poses with its latest team championship trophy, won this weekend at Byron Center West Sports Complex. (Middle) Rochester Hills Stoney Creek’s Quentin Rangi volleys during a Friday match at No. 2 singles. (Below) Northville’s Alex Boules gets into a ground stroke at No. 4 singles Friday. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
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.)