Troy, Northville's Kumar Lead Charge of 1st-Time Champions
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2021
KALAMAZOO — The rain poured outside, but the thunderous roars were bouncing off the walls inside the Markin Racquet Center at Kalamazoo College, boosting Troy’s boys tennis team to its first MHSAA Finals championship
The senior-laden Colts amassed 30 points at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship tournament that lasted until well into Friday evening.
Bloomfield Hills finished second with 26 points, followed by Northville with 23, Novi with 21, and Ann Arbor Pioneer at 17.
An ecstatic Colts coach Brian Miska praised his entire team for its play. Troy won two flights but picked up necessary points by advancing deep into other brackets.
“This (championship) is the first one in the history of the Troy High boys program,” he said. “It’s a very special day for the city.”
Miska said the title is especially significant because “we don’t have any super star USTA players, nationally-ranked kids. We just have a bunch of guys who work their (butts) off. That means a lot to us.”
Always tough Okemos, which won the Division 1 title last year, moved to Division 2 this year.
“We played them this year, beat them twice this year,” Miska said “But they’re still a strong team.
“We always want the competition. This group doesn’t fear anyone.”
Miska, Troy’s head coach since 2012, has a strong connection with his team.
“We have seven seniors in the lineup, nine seniors overall,” he said.
“It’s been really special for me because I’ve known a lot of these kids since they were in middle school and 10th graders, when they were new varsity players. Seeing their progression over the years has been really fun for me.”
Two of those players are the No. 1 doubles team, seniors Andrew Wang and Nikhil Tatineni, who entered as the top seeds.
Their semifinal win clinched the team title.
However, they ran into a tough Northville team in the final, losing to second seeds Quinn Cassar and Adi Pundhir, both seniors, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(3).
That finale was the top seeds’ second consecutive three-setter.
“I was tired, but in all honesty, the nerves and all the energy here was so much, I wasn’t worried about the energy,” Tatineni said.
“I went in with the same mentality. I think in the (semifinal) match, I was more focused, more zoned in. I just blocked out everything else and focused on my match.”
Wang said the short break between matches was a factor.
“For me, it was definitely nerves,” he said. “We came from a three-set match against Huron and 30 or 45 minutes later we had to play Northville.
“We were trying to quickly drink water, do everything, but it’s all right. We got a (team) state championship.”
This was the first season the Northville duo was paired, but that was definitely not a problem.
“We’ve known each other since middle school, so the chemistry’s there,” Pundhir said.
“Throughout the season, we’ve been practicing hard, slowly getting better throughout the season. I think this was our big moment to win.”
Cassar said the crowd was a motivating factor.
“It’s the best crowd we’ve had my four years,” he said. “It was so loud. We had other teams cheering for us, too, which was awesome also.
“We got loud, we started talking to each other, slowing it down. We started thinking through it more and things started going our way.”
One of the premier matches of the tournament was a battle between a pair of sophomore seed-breakers, who are friends off the court but faced each other for the first time in high school competition.
Northville’s Sachiv Kumar, the fifth seed, defeated unseeded Clay Anderson, from Rochester, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) for the No. 1 singles title.
The three-hour match was the second in a row for Kumar, who upset top seed Noah Roslin, a Bloomfield Hills senior, 6-7(6), 6-0, 7-5, in the semifinals.
Following finals match, Kumar was sprawled in his courtside chair, catching his breath.
“I didn’t think I had enough energy left from the last match,” he said. “I guess I did. I just went for it.
“I actually practiced with him last week.”
Anderson, who upset the second and sixth seeds to advance, knew what to expect from his friend.
“I know his game, but I feel like it’s tough for me to go against him,” he said. “He’s got good ground strokes on the baseline and controls the point pretty fast.
“I knew his game so I knew I had to be ready for what he had.”
Bloomfield Hills had the top seeds at all four singles flights, and won the other three.
At No. 2, junior Daniel Stojanov defeated third seed Derek Blackwell, from Troy, 6-0, 6-0.
“I think it was the confidence factor, playing him for the third time,” Stojanov said. “I was confident in my forehand today, which helped a lot.”
The Black Hawks had a young team with Roslin the only senior.
A key for next season is “I think our young team improving in the offseason, getting better every day and keep being excited about tennis,” said Stojanov, who also won a Finals title at No. 2 doubles as a freshman.
At No. 3 singles, Pierce Shaya defeated second seed Noah Vogel, of Ann Arbor Pioneer, 6-1, 6-0.
A freshman playing in his first Finals, Shaya said: “It’s really fun. Four amazing matches. It started off pretty rough (Thursday) with the rain, but everybody was patient and it was run really well.”
Shaya lost just seven games the entire tournament.
“I’ve trained my whole life for this, and it’s been an amazing adventure.,” he said “A lot of wins and a lot of losses, and I’ve learned a lot from them.”
In a No. 4 singles showdown of sophomores, Aaron Rose defeated Troy’s Haresh Anand, the second seed, 6-2, 6-2.
Rose lost just six games the entire tournament, and drew confidence from having won his two earlier meetings with Anand this season.
“I expect to see him a lot more,” Rose said. “It was a fun match.”
Troy had the top seeds in all four doubles flights, winning two with senior Aryan Gupta and junior Srihari Ananthalwan at No. 2 and seniors Pranav Bellad and Zach Saad at No. 3.
Bloomfield Hills’ fourth seeds, freshman Dominic Pascarela and sophomore Ethan Endelman won the No. 4 doubles title.
PHOTOS (Top) Troy celebrates its first MHSAA Finals championship in boys tennis Friday evening. (Middle) Bloomfield Hills’ Pierce Shaya returns a volley during Thursday’s opening rounds on the way to eventually winning No. 3 singles and helping the Black Hawks finish second as a team. (Top photo by Pam Shebest; middle photo by High School Sports Scene.)
Preview: Return of Traditional Finals Format Joined by Return of Annual Contenders
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 14, 2021
What’s old is new again at the Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals, but with plenty of what we’re used to expected this weekend as well.
After a format switch to a head-to-head team championship tournament last year due to COVID-19 precautions, the traditional format has returned with team and individual qualifiers at four sites – Division 1 playing on Thursday and Friday and the other three divisions Friday and Saturday.
Many of the usual favorites are expected to push for championships again. Okemos is the top-ranked team in Division 2 after winning Division 1 a year ago, while Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood is top-ranked and the reigning champion in Division 3. A number of other recent champs should be in the mixes again as well.
See below for a look at many of those contenders, and check out the MHSAA Website for brackets and more (Final rounds will be played at sites listed first below):
LP Division 1 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: T-1. Bloomfield Hills, T-1. Troy, 3. Novi.
Bloomfield Hills and Troy have been tied for the top spot since the second set of rankings were posted in mid-September, and there are good stories accompanying both being in contention. Bloomfield Hills won outright or tied for the championship three of four seasons from 2015-18, while Troy’s only top-two finish came to the Black Hawks in 2017. Bloomfield Hills, Troy and Novi all won their Regionals, Novi against the toughest field finishing a point ahead of No. 8 Northville and eight points better than No. 9 Detroit Catholic Central. Bloomfield Hills and Troy did face off Sept. 9, with Troy winning 5-4 playing a fifth doubles flight, and Bloomfield Hills was first and Troy second at a quad Oct. 2.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks are seeded at seven flights with the top seeds at all four singles – Noah Roslin at No. 1, Daniel Stojanov at No. 2, Pierce Shaya at No. 3 and Aaron Rose at No. 4. Roslin advanced to the No. 1 semifinals last season and is the lone senior in the starting lineup – he has wins over the second and third seeds at his flight this season. Stojanov is one of only three juniors in the starting lineup, so Bloomfield HIlls could make a run at team championships over at least the next two seasons.
Troy: The Colts have found the same success as the Black Hawks but thanks to different strengths, with seven seniors and a junior anchoring the lineup and the top seeds at all four doubles flights – Andrew Wang and Nikhil Tatineni at No. 1, Srihari Ananthalwan and Aryan Gupta at No. 2, Pranav Bellad and Zach Saad at No. 3 and Dhruv Gupta and Rushil Kagithala at No. 4. Three singles flights also are seeded, including Haresh Anand second at No. 4 singles.
Novi: The Wildcats also have seven seeded flights, led by second seeds Cole Anderson at No. 2 singles and Rohit Saripelle and Nikhil Daniel at No. 4 doubles. Novi had four flight champions at its strong Regional and will be making a run at its first team Finals title since sharing with Bloomfield Hills in 2015.
Dimitri Moriarty, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice: After a solid season at No. 2 singles last fall, Moriarty moved up to No. 1 and is 16-4 and seeded second as a junior.
Anthony Van Oyen, Ann Arbor Skyline: Van Oyen, also a junior, made the No. 1 singles bracket in 2020 as the eighth seed and returns to the Finals this weekend third at No. 1 singles.
LP Division 2 at Hope College and Holland Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Okemos, 2. Mattawan, 3. Detroit U-D Jesuit.
Okemos is back in Division 2 after winning last season’s Division 1 team championship, which combined with Division 2 titles in 2017 and 2018 was the program’s third in four years. Mattawan is seeking its first Finals championship in this sport and was the Division 2 team runner-up a year ago, while Jesuit twice has been runner-up – most recently in 2019 – and also is seeking its first Finals championship. These three in order have been ranked the top three since the Sept. 20 poll.
Okemos: Despite almost an entirely new lineup from last year’s team championship run, Okemos has five flights seeded and all four singles seeded first or second. Ethan Portnoy is seeded second at No. 1 singles after playing No. 2 doubles last season as a freshman, and junior George Fan is the top seed at No. 2 singles and played No. 4 a year ago. Hannah Letzer is the second seed at No. 3, and Suchir Nagisetty is the top seed at No. 4.
Mattawan: The Wildcats are chasing a historic finish with a strong singles lineup featuring three of the team’s four seeded flights. Luke Hodgman at No. 2 and Andrew Williams at No. 4 singles are both third seeded, as is the No. 2 doubles pair of Garrett Cheng and Brady Sullivan.
Detroit U-D Jesuit: Doubles drove the team’s runner-up finish in 2019, and that could be the scenario again this weekend. Five seeded flights total are expected to lead the Cubs into contention, with Sam Owens and Stephen Cibulas the top-seeded pair at No. 4 doubles and Alex Kuplicki and Luke Padilla the second seed at No. 2.
Sammy Yin, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central: The junior singles standout is seeded first at No. 1 after reaching the semifinals last season, and he has wins over the next two seeded players at his flight.
Connor Stafford, Grosse Pointe South: Stafford, also a junior, carries the third seed at No. 1 into this weekend and has played the top flight all three seasons.
LP Division 3 at Midland Tennis Center and Midland High School
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Ann Arbor Greenhills.
These three programs have taken turns winning the Division 3 title going back to 2008, with Greenhills entering the mix in 2019 after dominating Division 4 previously. Cranbrook Kingswood won last season’s Division 3 team title, with Greenhills the runner-up, and Greenhills was the 2019 champion with Cranbrook and Country Day tying for second place.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes moved into the top spot in the rankings this week after winning a Regional that included No. 6 St. Clair. All eight flights are seeded, including one top seed and five second seeds. No. 3 doubles pair Ryan Michaels and Andrew Fink earned that top spot, while Owen DeMuth at No. 1 singles, Patrick Tiwari at No. 3 and Caden Che at No. 4 are all second-seeded as are No. 2 doubles Jacob Coburn and Sebs Taubman and No. 4 Aryan Tiwari and Praneel Pillarisetty. DeMuth was the No. 1 singles runner-up last season.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets have finished Finals runners-up five of the last six seasons since concluding a four-year championship run in 2014, and they were Regional runners-up to Greenhills by two points last week. All eight flights are seeded as well, with doubles particularly powerful. No. 2 pair Aiden Khaghany and Clay Hartje and No. 4 Ramzi Nassif and Aayush Dagar are top seeds, and No. 1 Alex Pollak and Petros Kalabat and No. 3 Nick Kalkanis and Charlie Holman are second seeds. Hartje and Khaghany won No. 3 doubles in 2019.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons went from No. 1 to No. 3 in the team rankings despite the Regional win mentioned above, but they’ll no doubt remain in this weekend’s mix with seven seeded flights – including the top seeds at all four singles. Senior Mert Oral is the two-time reigning champion at No. 1 singles, with Rishi Verma slotted No. 2, Chakor Rajendra at No. 3 and Kabir Rajendra at No. 4. Verma won at No. 3 and Chakhor Rajendra at No. 4 in 2019.
Simon Volkema, Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles senior is the third seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals at the top flight last season.
Derek Distelrath, St. Clair: Also a senior, Distelrath is the fourth seed at No. 1 after also making the semifinals in 2020. He was the No. 1 singles runner-up in 2019.
Tanner Warners & Dream Kwon, Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles have three doubles pairs made up of seniors, and Warners and Kwon are the top seed at No. 1. Warners was part of the No. 1 runner-up with a different partner in 2019.
LP Division 4 at University of Michigan & Ann Arbor Pioneer
Top-ranked: 1. Traverse City St. Francis, 2. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 3. Hudsonville Unity Christian.
These three have been the top three in the rankings all season, and in this order since the second poll was posted. University Liggett is the reigning team champion and has claimed three of the last five Division 4 titles with victories as well in 2016 and 2017. St. Francis is a frequent contender and seeking its first championship, having come in runner-up for the first time in 2018. Unity Christian was the team runner-up a year ago, also its highest Finals finish.
Traverse City St. Francis: A singles lineup full of underclassmen and a doubles lineup packed with seven seniors or juniors will attempt to take the Gladiators the final step for the first time. All eight flights are seeded and six are top seeds: Tristan Bonanni at No. 2 singles, Owen Jackson at No. 3 and Chris Bobrowski at No. 4; and Cody Richards and Ben Schmude at No. 1 doubles, Charlie King and Derek Berta at No. 3 and Tommy Puetz and Eli Schmude at No. 4. Richards was the No. 3 singles champion in 2019, and Schmude was part of the champion No. 1 doubles that fall with a different partner.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights graduated a four-time No. 1 singles champion, but still have plenty of contenders among eight seeded flights. Sebastian Courtright at No. 2 singles and Gerry Sherer at No. 4 carry second seeds into the weekend; Sherer was the No. 4 runner-up in 2019.
Hudsonville Unity Christian: Five of the team’s six seeded flights are fourth-seeded or higher. Ben Timmermans at No. 4 singles leads the way with a second seed, and Ryan Broek is the fourth seed at No. 1 singles after entering as the fifth seed a year ago.
Andrew Solarewicz, Grand Rapids West Catholic: A senior and individual qualifier, Solarewicz is the top-flight favorite carrying the top seed after finishing runner-up at No. 1 a year ago.
Alberto Gonzalez-Perez, Grand Rapids South Christian: Gonzalez-Perez, a junior, is the top player for No. 7 South Christian and earned the fourth seed at No. 1 singles after claiming a Regional title without losing a set.
PHOTO Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Mert Oral steps into a backhand during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Team Final. Click for more from High School Sports Scene.