Grosse Ile Ends Wait for 1st Championship
May 31, 2014
By Keith Dunlap
Special to Second Half
HOLLY – MHSAA Finals championships are typically remembered forever in trophy cases of schools around the state. But sometimes there are championships that differentiate themselves more than others from a historical perspective.
No doubt, the championship the Grosse Ile girls tennis team captured Saturday is one of those unique pieces of history that will stand out forever.
Coach John Shade has presided over Grosse Ile’s program for 42 years, but never got to experience the feeling of winning an MHSAA Finals championship until the Red Devils won the Lower Peninsula Division 4 title on Saturday at Holly High School.
Grosse Ile won its first-ever championship by collecting 26 points, finishing five ahead of Kalamazoo Christian and six ahead of third-place Traverse City St. Francis.
Needless to say, there were a lot of fellow coaches who wanted to offer congratulations to Shade afterward, and there will likely be many more in the coming days who couldn’t be happier to see him win his first title with the girls after previously winning with the boys program.
“It’s nice to hear congratulations from your peers,” Shade said. “I think most people know me and know Grosse Ile.”
The Red Devils produced individual champions at two flights, Kennedy Quinn at No. 4 singles and the team of Rose Tucker and Casey Guthrie at No. 4 doubles. But it was the overall depth of Grosse Ile that stood out.
Ola Latala at No. 3 singles and the team of Karolina Kvasnitova and Elli Formentin at No. 2 doubles finished second in their respective flights, and Julia Formentin at No. 2 singles and the No. 3 doubles team of Katherine Kuzmiak and Luna Terauchi reached the semifinals to add more valuable points to Grosse Ile’s total.
The seeds for Grosse Ile’s title were really sewn at last year’s MHSAA tournament, where the Red Devils finished an agonizing three points behind champion Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart.
With much of its core returning, Grosse Ile knew this could be the time to win that elusive championship, and it was.
“This was our goal since last year,” Latala said. “We are all really excited that we are state champs. We really wanted to make our coach really proud.”
Redemption from last year was also a theme for Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard senior Colleen O’Brien, who finished off an unbeaten season by winning the title at No. 1 singles.
O’Brien, who will play at Michigan State University, lost in last year’s championship match, but avenged that by beating Calla Ramont of Lansing Catholic, 6-3, 6-2.
“I think I was motivated to win more,” O’Brien said. “I just never wanted to give up, and keep fighting. Obviously last year I needed to fight a little more to win that match. I just had that mentality.”
It often can be a mental strain for a player to try and keep a perfect season going, but O’Brien’s focus turned out to be too good.
“I blocked it out,” O’Brien said. “It didn’t really affect me too much.”
Gabriel Richard also had the champion at No. 2 singles, as Maddy Szuba beat Jessica Bouma of Kalamazoo Christian, 6-3, 6-2.
Audrey Bouma of Kalamazoo Christian beat Latala, 6-3, 6-1, to win the No. 3 singles title, and Quinn beat Sydni Greenhoe of Portland at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-3, to round out the singles portion of the tournament.
At No. 1 doubles, Sacred Heart’s team of sophomore Gretchen Lemon and senior Sarah Spangler beat Chrissy Flynn and Ella Anteau of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in the final, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
In the semifinal, Flynn and Anteau upset the top-seeded team, Gabrielle Kelly and Stephanie Kelly of Ludington, and both Lemon and Spangler admitted they were surprised to not be facing the Ludington team in the final.
That set up a rematch from a regular-season match, when Lemon and Spangler rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win the first set and ultimately beat Flynn and Anteau.
Lemon and Spangler rallied again Saturday after dropping the first set.
“In the first set, we didn’t really realize their disadvantages,” Lemon said. “In the second and third set, we figured it out and that is how we won.”
Olivia Laman and Brooke Schneider beat Kvasnitova and Formentin, 6-4, 6-4, to win the title at No. 2 doubles, Sarah Stayman and Rosie Wilson of Traverse City St. Francis won the title at No. 3 doubles by beating Julia Maltbie and Claire Flewelling of Ludington in the final of that flight, 6-1, 7-5, and Tucker-Guthrie beat Brooke Butterfield and Morgan Wittkopp of Portland in the final of the No. 4 doubles flight, 6-2, 6-2.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grosse Ile celebrates its first MHSAA girls tennis championship. (Middle) Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard's Colleen O'Brien returns a shot during the No. 1 singles championship match. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
6 Flight Champs Key Westwood 4-Peat
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 2, 2019
KINGSFORD — Ishpeming Westwood continued its stranglehold on the Upper Peninsula Division 2 girls tennis championship Wednesday, winning for the fourth straight season.
Westwood, which gained at least a share of title for also the 10th time in 11 years, posted 22 points and was followed by West Iron County with 15 and Iron Mountain with 11.
“This is an exciting day for the girls,” said Westwood coach Sarah Massie. “One of our goals was definitely to win the M-PCs (Mid-Peninsula Conference). After a big win over Negaunee, we were ready to go. We didn’t have a dual meet with West Iron because it got rained out. We didn’t play them until today. The girls just had to play their game, and it worked out for them.”
The Patriots won 6-of-8 flights, including all four singles on this cloudy, chilly and windy day.
Senior Madelyn Koski became a two-time Finals champion by taking a 6-1, 6-0 decision from Iron Mountain’s Macy McCormick at No. 1 singles. She previously was part of a No. 3 doubles winner in 2016 and was runner-up at No. 1 singles in 2018.
“I’m pretty happy,” said Koski. “Every team I’ve been on worked pretty hard. It has really been fun to be on these teams. I’m pretty sad to see it end.
“This is probably the best I played in the U.P. Finals. I just learned as I went on. It was definitely a little windy, and I had to adjust my game – although, I’m used to the wind.”
Classmate Tessa Leece won for the fourth consecutive Finals, topping Iron Mountain’s Claire Mongrain 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Leece teamed with Koski in 2016, won No. 4 singles as a sophomore and No. 2 also as a junior.
“I just focused on hitting good shots and tried to be patient,” said Leece, who also runs on the school’s cross country team. “I knew what to expect, which comes with experience.
“This feels so good. We worked so hard for it. We wanted to end on a good note.”
Jillian Koski added a 6-0, 6-4 triumph over Iron Mountain junior Arianna Morel in No. 3 singles, and Jenna Wealton defeated West Iron’s Olivia Mazurek 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4. Koski had won No. 4 singles last season.
“I was excited to get to the finals,” said Morel. “She was very consistent, and her groundstrokes were working pretty well. She hit the ball right to me, and I had to play it on the run.”
Westwood juniors Avery Mariuzzo and Emily Nelson outlasted West Iron sophomores Madison Berutti and Aurora Dahl 6-0, 6-7 (3-7), 6-0 for their first No. 3 doubles championship.
“It feels like it was a reset,” said Mariuzzo, who helped the Patriots’ duo regain control with three quick overhand taps in the third set. “I think those shots set the tone. Those definitely gave us a lot of momentum. We just had to refocus.”
Nelson also had some success with overhand taps.
“Once we hit the reset button, we didn’t want to lose again,” she said. “We work real well together. We had been competing with Negaunee and Marquette all year, which prepared us well.”
Westwood junior Claire Gilles and sophomore Natalie Prophet won No. 4 doubles in a 6-0, 6-2 finales over West Iron’s Alyssa Dominicci and Katarina Hemeleski.
“Natalie finishes every play at the net,” said Gilles, who became a two-time champion. “Communication is key. We made sure we switched when the ball went to the other side of the court. We felt we had everything pretty much under control. I definitely wanted to win again. There was a lot of pressure coming in.”
West Iron took the remaining flights, with junior Tori Bociek and senior Eden Golliher defeating Westwood’s Katelyn Antilla and Karlie Patron 6-4, 6-3 to repeat at No. 1 doubles. Emily Nelson and Anna Malmquist dispatched Ellie Miller and Meghan Johnson 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2.
“We hit the angles pretty good,” said Bociek. “Our overhand shots were working pretty good. This is the third U.P. title for both of us. We just tried to play this like any other match. I think this will be a pretty big motivator for next year.”
Iron Mountain matched expectations, according to coach Sharon Ducat.
“We took third place today, and that’s about where I expected we would be,” she said. “Macy, Claire and Arianna made to the finals in singles and played well. Our doubles teams improved upon their results from earlier in the year, and I was happy with their performance. It was a fun and enjoyable season, one which the girls should be proud of.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Westwood's Madelyn Koski returns a volley during her championship match at No. 1 singles Wednesday. (Middle) West Iron's Livea Mazurek returns a shot during a match also at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Matt McCarthy.)