Cranes Clinch 4th Straight Tennis Title
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2014
KALAMAZOO — On a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon, coach Jeffrey Etterbeek was unexpectedly doused with an ice-water bath by a group of cheering, laughing, enthusiastic girls on the Stowe Stadium tennis courts at Kalamazoo College.
The girls and their coach were celebrating Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s fourth consecutive MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 title.
“Four-peat is pretty extraordinary, pretty special,” Etterbeek said. “Not many athletic teams can do that, so they can boast they did that.
“Other teams and other players are good out here, and you’re going to take some bumps along the way. I think winning is contagious. You get ahold of a little bit of it and you want to do some more. It’s fun to win.”
Cranbrook-Kingswood led by six points after Friday’s action which ended with the quarterfinals, and clinched the title during Saturday’s semifinal rounds. The Cranes totaled 35 points, followed by Detroit Country Day with 24, Grand Rapids Christian with 20, Allegan with 18 and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep with 15.
This is the third time Cranbrook-Kingswood has won four straight MHSAA team titles, and only the 13th time a streak that long has been achieved by a Lower Peninsula girls tennis team.
The title was bittersweet for senior Alex Najarian, who owns three individual MHSAA titles, all at No. 1 singles, and did not lose a match in four years heading into Saturday’s final.
Najarian, the top seed, was upset 6-2, 6-1, by sophomore Sara Daavettila, the second seed from Williamston.
Daavettila, who ran down everything Najarian threw at her, was playing her first season of high school tennis after being home-schooled last year.
“I knew Alex was playing, and it would be a good year for some good competition to play her before she goes off to (University of) Michigan,” Daavettila said of choosing high school this year. “I thought it would be fun.
“I’ve known her ever since I was little. I grew up playing with her in USTA events. We’re good friends. I just focused on the ball and not who she was, and it worked out. In the first few games, I was on a roll and playing well and hitting well. I was positive and saying I can beat this.”
Najarian said she felt a lot of pressure going into the final.
“I didn’t play my best, but she’s a very good player and I’ve played her before,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of close matches with her before and beat her twice. I knew coming in it was going to be tough, and it made me more nervous.
“There’s a lot of pressure because you’re the senior and you’ve never lost a match.”
Etterbeek said Najarian has been a key to Cranbrook-Kingswood’s success.
“She just ran into a buzz saw today,” the coach said. “The girl played as good as she possibly could have played. Alex should not hang her head. She’s meant everything to this program. She’s brought incredible leadership.
“That’s the only match she’s lost. That one match doesn’t diminish what she did by any means. We’re very proud of her accomplishments at the school.”
Williamston coach Steve Stanley said on a scale of 0-100, “I have helped (Daavettila’s) tennis game ‘zero.’ She’s had great coaches. She’s not only a great tennis player, but she’s very positive and incredibly enthusiastic for the team.
“She hits with her mom (Breita Daavettila), who was a competitive tennis player, and they have a court at their home. It’s mostly her mom and Tom Walker (coach at Court One in Okemos).”
The No. 2 singles final was one of the first on the court and, two and one-half hours later, the last one off.
Anna Short, the top seed from Cranbrook-Kingswood, defeated Country Day’s Haley Mullins, the second seed, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) for her second consecutive title at No. 2 singles. Both are sophomores.
“It was much more challenging this year,” Short said. “Haley just gets everything back. Plus the weather. It was just so hard. She played great.”
After losing the first set, “I kinda was just excited and hitting way too flat and hard. In the second set, my coach Steve Herdoisa told me to back off the pace and spin high and deep and then come in, and that helped a lot.”
Mullins said Short changed her game after losing the first set.
“She got a little bit more aggressive,” Mullins said. “She changed it up a bit and (hit) more lobs inside. She kept the point in play longer.
“It was a great match and she hit some wonderful shots at the end and I think that’s what made the difference, the last couple shots when it really came down to it.”
Many of the players also compete in USTA tournaments, but there’s a big difference, Short said.
“You have so much support being a team,” she said. “There’s the parents, obviously the players and when you’re on a court next to a teammate and they’re cheering you on when you’re down 3-6 in the first set, it’s pretty nice. In the USTA, you’re alone and you’re the only one cheering yourself on.”
Country Day started Saturday with 18 points, tied with Allegan and just one point ahead of Grand Rapids Christian. Although Cranbrook-Kingswood led by just six points after the first day, the Cranes had players in all eight semifinals flights.
“We screwed up a bit (Friday) with a couple of our doubles teams,” Country Day coach Jessica Young said. “We knew we had to be perfect today and (Cranbrook-Kingswood) had to take some early losses, and you can’t rely on someone taking losses. So we put ourselves in that predicament early on.
“We haven’t finished second in a lot of years, and I’m so proud of them. They fought really hard today. We had our 3 doubles (sophomores Sharmila Prabhu and Lydia Wang) make it to the finals, which wasn’t expected. Our 2 singles (Mullins) fought so hard in the heart-breaker. She’s such a fighter, and I’m so proud of her.”
After pulling out a three-set semifinal win, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 3 singles against Cranbrook-Kingswood’s No. 4 seed, sophomore Emily Harvey, top seed Madelyn Karoub defeated unseeded freshman Maddy Winarski of Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 6-1, 6-1.
“I know Maddy very well and I know she’s a great player, so I was expecting a tough match, actually,” said Karoub, a Country Day senior who ended her high school career with her third Finals individual title.
“She lives in my area, so we practice together. I just played a good match. We had some really good points; I just finished them out. Of the three titles, this is the most important to me, so I’m happy to pull it out. It’s my last year playing. I’m not playing college tennis, so it’s my last team thing.”
Winarski, who was wearing a knee brace following the match, said she didn’t expect to make it as far as the finals.
“I expected to do well, but not this well,” she said. “I’ve been playing for a while, so I’ve been training for it. USTA helps a lot for the experience, but I wanted the team experience. I’ve never been part of a team.”
Notre Dame Prep coach Peter Riley was beaming after the match.
“This is the best finish we’ve ever had at a state tournament in school history,” he said. “A fifth place tournament, not bad at all with the range of talent here.
“(Winarski) started the season hurt. She had shin splints. When we did our challenge matches, she was losing. She wasn’t really ready to play until after Easter, and she raised her level up to No. 3 singles and I’m not surprised. She’s a fighter, and the nice thing is she’s a freshman.”
Runner-up last year at No. 4 singles, junior Sarah Carroll of Detroit Country Day captured the gold this year. The second seed defeated Cranbrook-Kingswood’s top-seeded junior Jazz Teste, 6-1, 6-3.
“My brother (Nick) was my coach this year and he made a really big difference,” Carroll said. “I didn’t let the nerves get to me, and I was able to stay calm. It was awesome. I was able to stay strong the whole match.
“We played two times before and I lost both times, so this was good.”
Teste said in spite of losing, she was thrilled with the team’s four-peat.
“I didn’t work as hard as I could,” Teste said. “I fell for some of her traps, her slices. This is the first state (tournament) that I have participated in and won. I’m really excited.”
Cranbrook-Kingswood won three of the four doubles flights with juniors Meg Phyle and Amanda Simmons winning at No. 1, senior Holly Meers and sophomore Amanda Twu at No. 2, and senior Lauren Lanzon and freshman Mackenzie Beckett at No. 3.
The Grand Rapids Christian duo of senior Rachel Harkema and junior Rachel Koopman took the No. 4 doubles title.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood's Anna Short prepares to return a shot during a No. 2 singles match Saturday en route to winning her flight. (Middle) Williamston's Sara Daavettila volleys during her run to the No. 1 singles championship. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
Michigan's Most Vital Prep Sports Moment
April 30, 2018
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
Did you ever hear the one about an Ypsilanti lawyer, two girls from Ann Arbor – one 18 and one 17 – and a judge from Detroit?
I didn’t think so.
Well, pull up a chair. You might never look at a tennis ball, a pair of track cleats, or a softball in the same manner after this one.
Now this story goes back a bit. We’re talking 45, um, make that 46 years ago. It was handed down to me, so now I’m handing it down to you.
The girls, Cindy and Emily, had met at a tennis club when they were 11 or 12. Both were pretty good players who had done well at tennis tournaments before heading off to Huron High School. But there was concern that the girls wouldn’t have the chance to play truly competitive tennis while in high school. You see, like most public schools of the time, Huron had only one varsity tennis team, and that was filled with boys.
Contact was made with a friend and fellow tennis player to help guide things along when it came time to talk to the school board about the girls joining that team.
The conversation between that tennis friend – Larry the Lawyer – and the school board went pretty well. The board decided to let the girls play on the boys tennis team provided they could pass the tryouts. Well, as you’ve probably surmised, the girls did all right. With the blessing of Coach Jerry, it was decided Cindy and Emily would play No. 2 doubles for the River Rats.
But as we all know, such decisions aren’t always met with cupcakes being served and happiness. People don’t always like change.
And that was pretty much the case here.
State officials didn’t much care for the idea. You see, when it came to interscholastic athletics, according to state rules established in 1967, girls couldn’t play on boys teams. Still, the Huron tennis team made the 60-mile trip up to Lansing on a Wednesday in April for a match with Lansing Harry Hill High School. Coach Jerry met with Hill’s coach, they shook hands, then Coach Jerry turned in his line-up card, to make things orderly and official.
Since there were girls names on the lineup card, not a single ball was served that day. Folks figured this was going to be the case. So the players and the bus turned around and headed back to Ann Arbor. Hill claimed a forfeited match because of that rule.
That set wheels in motion. Larry the Lawyer declared that this was a clear case of discrimination and a violation of Cindy and Emily’s right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment. With that, a lawsuit quickly was filed.
Now, they say that this was one of the first, if not the first lawsuits about such things. And you must remember this all happened back in early 1972, before the arrival of Title IX.
Turns out, Larry and the girls won their case. In Federal District Court, Judge Keith listened to what was said and issued a preliminary injunction allowing the girls to play. A little later in the week, Emily and Cindy won their first varsity doubles match hosted in Battle Creek, much to the dismay of their male opponents.
The next month, the Michigan Legislature adopted a bill allowing girls to compete on male teams, but only in non-contact sports. In late May, the doubles team of Emily and Cindy defeated a doubles team from Harry Hill, 6-3, 6-1.
Of course, as with many of these rulings, there was an appeal. And, as these things usually do, it took a while to move this along. But come January 1973, the U.S. Circuit Court down in Cincinnati agreed with Judge Keith and upheld the preliminary injunction. They, too, thought that girls should be able to participate in varsity interscholastic sports. The Circuit Court did narrow Judge Keith’s decision a bit, inserting the word “NON-CONTACT” into the ruling. Suddenly, it was officially OK for girls to play alongside the boys in sports like tennis, swimming, archery, golf, bowling, fencing, badminton, gymnastics, skiing, and track and field.
Now just because there’s a law, it doesn’t mean everyone’s abiding by it. It would take several more years and the threat or the filing of additional lawsuits against school districts and organizations to truly see things change.
Today, we don’t think twice when we take a seat at a girls softball game, track meet or tennis match. But a short time ago, such things simply did not exist for our daughters. The actions of two girls from Ann Arbor, an Ypsilanti lawyer and a judge from Detroit altered the athletic world – for the better.
Lawrence Sperling’s lawsuit to support Cindy Morris’ and Emily Barrett’s quest to play high school sports was certainly a highlight of his career as an attorney. Lawrence and his wife Doris had sons who were outstanding tennis players. Michael and Gene were high-ranking players at Ann Arbor Pioneer during the 1970s. Gene played four years of tennis at the University of Minnesota and would later serve as Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In 2012, he would write about his father and the landmark case for the White House.
Judge Damon Keith had been appointed to the bench of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by President Lyndon Baines Johnson, in 1967. It was some four and a half years later that the Morris-Barrett complaint landed on his docket. A graduate of Detroit Northwestern High School, he is the father of three daughters. Keith would later be appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Court in Cincinnati by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. In 1995, he became the Senior Judge of that court. His amazing story was later told in a documentary “Walk With Me: The Trials of Damon J. Keith.”
According to media reports, Coach Jerry Shull had been trying to get girls eligible for the previous two seasons, but felt the ultimate solution was to have high schools around the state form all-girls varsity teams. He again served as varsity tennis coach in 1973 (of a team that featured 10 females) before stepping aside in 1974.
Emily Barrett was a multi-sport athlete at Huron High School, competing with the Girls Athletic Club in swimming, field hockey and volleyball as well as tennis during this era of transition. During her senior year, the courts finalized their decision and she again played tennis for Huron. She’d move on to Denison University in Granville, Ohio, after graduation, where she played tennis and field hockey.
A year older than Barrett, Cindy Morris had graduated from Ann Arbor Huron High School by the time the case was finalized. She headed off to the University of Michigan and then transferred to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she played No 1. singles and doubles and twice participated in the National Collegiate Women’s Tournament. She later earned her Master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. As Cindy Morris, a sports journalist for the Cincinnati Enquirer, she recalled the words of Judge Keith for an article she was writing in late summer of 1978.
“Indeed, no male could have matched (the) soprano cries of joy when Judge Keith said, yes, go out and run and play and win and lose and laugh and cry and feel that special pride of playing for your school that boys in Michigan have always felt but you haven’t.”
The article was about a lawsuit originating in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where a girl was fighting to be allowed to compete in contact sports against boys.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) The first high school match in 1972 for Ann Arbor Huron's Emily Barrett, left, and Cindy Morris was reported on for the Battle Creek Enquirer. (Top middle) The 1972 Ann Arbor Huron varsity tennis team, including Morris and Barrett. (Middle) The Ann Arbor Huron lineup card shows Barrett and Morris' names for a match against Lansing Harry Hill that was not played. (Below) A Lansing State Journal clipping tells of Hill electing to not play the match.