After Rain, Westwood Reigns Again
October 1, 2014
By Dennis Grall
Special to Second Half
NEGAUNEE - Pflat! Phlop! Ping! Pitter-patter of early rain drops. 30-love! Out!
Those were the sounds of tennis on this chilly, windy fall Wednesday in Michigan's Upper Peninsula at the MHSAA Division 2 Girls Tennis Finals.
Appropriately the sun finally peaked through the overcast skies as Iron Mountain's Katie Brule outlasted Iron River West Iron County's Maddie Waara for her second straight singles title at No. 1. Only a small handful of spectators were still around for the day's only three-set match to feel the little warmth provided by those rays, including the entire Ishpeming Westwood team that was waiting for a championship trophy presentation for a record sixth straight year.
The Patriots amassed 19 points and collected six of the eight flight titles. Westwood has nine U.P. Finals championships since 2004.
Iron Mountain, the 2008 champ, was second with 15 points, followed by West Iron County with 13, Munising with seven, Ironwood and Ishpeming with one apiece, and Gwinn.
Nine seniors helped Westwood retain title honors, with doubles again playing a major role in the success.
"That is how we win most of our matches, with our doubles," said Westwood's Faith LeRoy, who teamed with Olivia Derocha to secure No. 2 and conclude an unbeaten season.
Derocha said, "Our doubles are really important. It is also important to be undefeated. We challenged ourselves to reach that goal."
They beat Kathryn Brown and Hannah Hakamaki of Iron Mountain 7-5, 6-0 in the finale. "It was definitely a challenge to get started. It was cold," said LeRoy. "Our first sets have always been closer."
To which Derocha added, "Once we get going, it is good. We need a little warm-up."
The temperature was barely 50 degrees when the tournament began about an hour late because of rain that slicked the dazzling new courts at Negaunee High School, and the wind from the south made it feel chillier. Even the multi-hued trees above Teal Lake in the background didn't do much to warm up anyone.
Westwood coach Chris Jackson said depth is a key reason for the success in doubles and as a team. "The depth comes from our numbers," he said of a team that fields 30-40 players each fall.
"We feel like we offer a great student-athlete opportunity, the players enjoy themselves, and winning certainly doesn't hurt. Everyone likes to be a part of the program. We offer something for everyone."
While the Patriots dominated, Brule struggled to repeat. She won the final set 6-0, but that followed a 6-2, 5-7 opener against the gritty Waara.
With frustration showing several times after lost points in the second set, Brule said, "I tried to calm down and just tried to remember how I played and to play my game and not get upset. I tried to forget my mistakes."
Waara, who missed last season with an knee ligament injury incurred during basketball season as a sophomore, had trouble with Brule's powerful opening serve but was able to put the second serve in play and gather numerous points in her upset bid.
"You couldn't do a lot with her serve," said Waara, who also runs cross country this fall for the Wykons. "And it probably didn't help to take a year off from tennis."
Brule said relying on her second serve wasn't a problem, but noted "I wanted my first serve to have more power and make it more difficult for her."
Additional flight champions for Westwood including Gabby Hebert at No. 2 singles, Rachel Anderson at No. 3 and Lauren Fairley at No. 4; Lacey Pietro and Jamee Ferris at No. 3 doubles and Emily Carlson and Madysen Mattias at No. 4 also won flight titles. Katie and Emily Bugni combined to win No. 1 doubles for Iron Mountain.
PHOTOS: (Top) Katie Brule of Iron Mountain darts into the corner to return a shot Wednesday at the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals at Negaunee High School. Brule defeat Maddie Waara of West Iron County 6-2, 5-7, 6-0 for her second straight title at No. 1 singles. (Middle) Rachel Anderson of Westwood reaches to retrieve a ball that bounced high during her No. 3 singles final against Iron Mountain's Emily Chang. (Photos by Dennis Grall.)
Forest Hills Rules D2: FHC's Ohlman Repeats, FHN Takes Back Team Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2024
BYRON CENTER — The last day of actual school this year for Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Lily Ohlman might have been May 6. But from a tennis perspective, it can be argued that her last day of school was May 4 — when she learned a few things that paid off during her final high school tournament.
It was then that Ohlman suffered a three-set loss to Megan Sullivan of Farmington Hills Mercy (10-8 in the third-set tiebreak). Earning a rematch with Sullivan in the No. 1 singles championship match at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Saturday, Ohlman tried to figuratively go to school and do her homework from that last match with Sullivan.
“Megan has an extremely good forehand,” Ohlman said. “She really hurt me with that in the last match. Going into this, I just tried as hard as I could not to hit it to her forehand. When I did, I tried to hit it deep and stuff.”
Ohlman certainly played like someone who did her homework from that match as well, as she earned her second straight singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the junior from Mercy.
Ohlman reached Sullivan by surviving Ana Cheng of Mattawan in the semifinals, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
“I have thought about this every day for the past year since I won states for the first time,” Ohlman said of trying to repeat. “It’s been like a true dream come true for my tennis career.”
While Ohlman brought home an individual title for Forest Hills Central, rival Forest Hills Northern claimed the team championship for the third time over the last four years. The Huskies netted 29 points to edge 2023 champion Birmingham Seaholm, which finished with 23.
Northern had players in five flights advance to finals, with four of those flights producing championships.
FHN’s title was punctuated when the No. 1 doubles team of Ryan Morey and Paige McKenzie defeated Seaholm’s team of Jenna Ting and Katie Slazinski in a thrilling final, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Northern actually had the team title clinched by that point, but head coach Steven Olson didn’t want his players to know that.
“I don’t want them to back off because they think the team has already won it,” he said. “I want them to think they are still hunting for a title the entire time.”
Huskies junior Andrea Wang defeated Keira Kirkland of Farmington Hills Mercy, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to win at No. 2 singles, sophomore Harriet Ogilvie captured the title at No. 3, and the team of Lauren Jaklitsch and Morgan McKenzie won at No. 2 doubles.
Olson guided his team to a Finals title in his second year as head coach after taking over for Dave Sukup, who led the program for 49 years before retiring. Northern had fallen to No. 2 behind Seaholm in the final regular-season coaches rankings. And then the Huskies lost their No. 1 singles player Nathalie Lanne to a torn ACL last week.
Her replacement, Natalia Acevedo, managed to win a first-round match to earn a crucial point despite not being seeded.
Also stepping up was sophomore Aanya Dogra, who entered the tournament unseeded at No. 4 singles. Dogra recorded upsets of No. 3 seed Elisa Costeux of Mattawan and No. 2 seed Maddy Youngblood of Grosse Pointe South before falling in the championship match to No. 1 seed Gabby Owens of Farmington Hills Mercy, 6-0, 6-2.
Still, Dogra’s run earned some major points for the Huskies.
“The rest of the team just stepped up and performed,” Olson said. “It’s been a wild weekend, but I’m very proud of these girls.”
PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Lily Ohlman returns a volley during her No. 1 singles championship match Saturday. (Middle) Forest Hills Northern’s Paige McKenzie, right, with partner Ryan Morey, sends back a powerful volley at No. 1 doubles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)