Dow Not Denied This Time in D1 Rematch
June 4, 2016
By Scott Keyes
Special for Second Half
MIDLAND – To say the Midland Dow girls tennis team enjoyed a boost playing close to home Saturday afternoon would be an understatement.
Dow coach Garrett Turner wasn't about to apologize after watching the Chargers win the Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls tennis championship at the Greater Midland Tennis Center. Dow had last won the title in 2009 and finished second last season and in 2010.
“We came out ready to go. We played a lot of great tennis, and we got the job done,” Turner said. “I was proud of what we accomplished seven years ago, and I couldn't be more proud of this year's team. We went out and battled a very tough Northville team and got the win. It's a true testament of how much we worked in the off season to prepare us for this moment. What a year. What an accomplishment."
Dow finished with 33 points to edge Northville, which finished with 30. Grosse Pointe South was third with 18 points, Ann Arbor Pioneer fourth with 17 and Rockford fifth with 14.
Northville, the reigning Division 1 champion, fought hard right up until the final match. But Dow's Caroline Szabo clinched the title for the Chargers by defeating Northville's Shanoli Kumar 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
The win was redemption for Szabo, who was forced to watch last year's Finals from the sidelines because of an injury.
"Sitting out last season was hard to watch, especially when we were close to defeating Northville," Szabo said. "It was hard not being able to help the team.
"Watching last year, to clinching the title this year, it is pretty incredible."
Northville coach Linda Jones was confident the team would hang close to Midland Dow heading into the tournament, but she knew it was going to take some stellar performances by her team to get past the Chargers.
"To win it last year and to finish second this year is something that has never happened at Northville High School," Jones said. "These girls have worked so hard to make it this far and just miss winning another state title is extremely gratifying to our team. We knew Dow was doing to be tough, but our girls hung in there and fought to the end."
Of the eight flight championship matches, Northville and Dow competed head-to-head in six. Szabo gave Dow a win at No. 2 singles, while Sarah Ismail added a Chargers' win at No. 3.
Ismail beat Northville's Joanne Gao, 6-1, 6-3. Ismail, a sophomore, is in her first year at Dow and on the tennis team. She was home-schooled as a freshman and played in USTA tournaments.
Senior captains Afua Ofori-Darko and Kamryn Matthews repeated as No. 1 doubles champions for Dow, beating Northville's Serena Wang and Maya Mulchandini, 6-1, 6-0 to cap an undefeated season.
Ofori-Darko, a senior, said to end her career with a team championship is something she will always remember.
"I have won three individual titles in my career, but to finally get that team championship in my senior season is just icing on the cake," Ofori-Darko said. "My high school career is now complete."
Dow added another title in No. 2 doubles when the third-seeded team of Meghan Killmaster and Kelly Livingston upset Northville's Reeshma Kumar and Molly Bis.
Northville earned a win at No. 3 doubles when Neha Chava and Sophie Zhuang outlasted Mina Fabiano and Tatum Matthews of Dow, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). The Mustangs added a win in No. 4 doubles when Brittany Macaddino and Alexandria Petix defeated Dow's Maggie Schaller and Marie Marche.
As mentioned, only two matches did not include Dow and Northville players facing off.
At No. 1 singles, West Bloomfield’s Anika Yarlagadda captured the title with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Raven Neely of Grosse Pointe South. Michi Ota of Ann Arbor Huron won No. 4 singles with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Emily Roopas of Ann Arbor Pioneer.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Midland Dow tennis player returns a shot during Saturday's Division 1 Finals at Greater Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) The Chargers pose with their first championship trophy since 2009. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Senior-Dominated Iron Mountain Soars to UPD2 Finals Repeat
By
Steve Brownlee
Special for MHSAA.com
September 30, 2022
ISHPEMING — There was both a single reason and a singles reason why Iron Mountain won the championship at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Tennis Finals played at Westwood High School on Thursday.
The difference is subtle — just a single letter “s” — but rings true both ways.
It was easy to see what the Mountaineers’ secret was — sweep the titles at every singles flight while adding one more in doubles just to be on the safe side.
IM finished with 19 points, while Ishpeming outdueled West Iron County in several late finals to eke out second place by one point, 14 to 13.
Gwinn posted five points to take fourth, while Munising had four, Norway one and Ironwood did not score.
Mountaineers coach Marcus Celello credited senior leadership for the team’s repeat championship.
“We have eight seniors on our team, including all four of our regular singles players and both our No. 1 doubles players, along with one each on Nos. 3 and 4 doubles,” the IM coach said.
He noted that all those singles flights were winners with the team’s championship in doubles also coming with the pair of seniors at No. 1.
“We won this last year and returned our core, so I knew we would at least be very competitive this year,” Celello said. “We won or tied every dual meet this season.”
He said that included a 4-4 tie against eventual U.P. Division 1 champion Negaunee to give the Miners the only blemish on their dual-meet record this fall.
“But sometimes when you haven’t faced adversity, it can be scary,” the coach continued. “You don’t always know how you’re going to react.”
No. 2 singles player Aziza Burgoon — of course, a senior — completed an undefeated season by winning a marathon final over WIC’s Seanna Stine, 7-5, 7-5.
IM also got singles titles from No. 3 Natalia Brown and No. 4 Rediet Husing, along with a doubles championship from No. 1 Elle Lofholm and Anja Kleiman.
But the biggest cheers and shrieks came after IM finished its singles sweep when No. 1 Callie Bianco pulled off a 6-4, 6-4 win over Gwinn’s Miaha Schiefel.
Schiefel led 4-2 in the second set looking to force a deciding third before Bianco won the final four games.
“I just was trying to stay focused, work the ball and follow through,” Bianco said. “And maybe the most important thing was to be patient, not panic.
“I’m known for being an impatient player. When I’m on, I like to be aggressive, but I know that when I’m not on, I have to focus on being patient.”
Asked if she was “on” Thursday, she was emphatic with her “Yes I was!”
One coach trying to be patient but excited for next season is Ishpeming’s Kaitlin Rich, who watched her junior-laden team set the groundwork for a big season next fall.
“We’ve already made a big improvement from last year,” she said. “I’m proud of how hard our girls have worked to make that improvement.
“Half of our players are dual-sport athletes, which means they’re playing another sport this fall, too, so they really have to balance their workload.”
The Hematites carted off one championship, one of the last finishing finals matches at No. 3 doubles when Kaitlyn VanDeuren and Paige Palomaki had to win a third-set tiebreaker to defeat WIC’s Bailey Hoffart and Aubrey Richardson 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1).
That result decided the runner-up position team-wise as a Wykons’ win would’ve reversed their point totals and places in the standings.
“We had five finalists, at Nos. 3 and 4 singles and Nos. 1, 2 and 3 doubles,” Rich said. “We return nine of our juniors next year, so I’m really looking forward to next year. I think we should be ready to make a run at the U.P.’s (title) next year.
“Kaitlyn and Paige, those two by far are the most improved players from last year,” the Ishpeming coach added.
WIC veteran coach Joe Serbentas was philosophical after his players won a pair of doubles titles, at No. 2 with sisters Autumn Smith and Kaitlyn Smith and at No. 4 with Destiny Lemery and Olivia Lamay.
“We’ve played well at the U.P.’s the last five or six years, but we also seemed to come up that point short,” he said. “Iron Mountain is so senior-loaded, you just knew that they were the big favorites today.
“We had a 5-7-1 record in dual meets, but we play a lot of the best teams in the U.P., so I still think that’s pretty good.”
Gwinn made a run at a U.P. flight championship for the first time in a number of years with Schiefel at No. 1 singles, much to her coach’s delight.
“She has such a passion for the sport, and she’s such an avid athlete,” Modeltowners coach Darcia Mattson said. “She runs track and is a phenomenal basketball player. She trains at AdvantEdge (athletic training facility in Marquette).
“She used to play tennis against her brother, Jared Rolland.
“And she’s not a big girl at all, but her heart is twice as big as she is.”
PHOTOS (Top) The Iron Mountain and Ishpeming No. 2 doubles pairs face off during a semifinal. (Middle) Anja Kleiman gets a racket on the ball during her and partner Elle Lofholm’s match at No. 1 doubles. (Below) Gwinn’s Miaha Schiefel returns a volley at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Steve Brownlee.)