Johnston Tips Title to Birmingham Seaholm
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2015
KALAMAZOO — Lisa Johnston was stunned when her Birmingham Seaholm teammates mobbed her on the court following her No. 3 singles win at Kalamazoo College’s Markin Racquet Center.
Johnston’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win against Okemos sophomore Monika Francsics was the clincher that gave Seaholm the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship with 29 points, one better than Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Last year, the two teams shared the title.
Bloomfield Hills Marian finished third with 23 points and Okemos fourth with 21.
“When everyone came rushing in, I was so surprised and so happy,” Johnston said. “I’m glad I didn’t lose. It helped not knowing (hers was the clincher).”
At No. 1 singles, Okemos senior Emily Struble finished her high school career with four MHSAA Finals titles, including a 6-3, 6-3, win against Northern senior Claire Aleck.
In the final match on court, Northern senior Madeline Bisset avenged her only loss in two seasons with a 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (1) win against Portage Central senior Carly Pratt at No. 2 singles.
Northern senior Sydney Whitfield, the top seed at No. 4 singles, defeated second-seeded Kylie Wilkenson, a junior from Okemos, 6-4, 6-3.
Seaholm coach Scot Ransome and the players knew Johnston represented the title-clinching point.
“I certainly didn’t emphasize that to her,” Ransome. “Enough pressure playing in the finals of the state championship without also know it’s the tipping point for the team.
“The focal point this year was, interestingly enough, I challenged the girls just last week. We have a number of plaques on the wall that say State Champions and Finalists, but none say repeated State Champ.
“Playing into the second day and the pressures of it, the girls stayed focused. We played probably the top six teams in D-1 (during the season) and that certainly helped prepare us for the success we enjoy today.”
Northern coach David Sukup said losing is tough, especially with seniors playing all four singles and two doubles flights.
“We had our chances,” he said. “It’s our own fault. We had flights where we could have won one more match and we didn’t.
“It’s all part of the game. Second’s better than third, but not as good as first.”
Johnston won the title at No. 4 doubles last year and moved up to No. 3 singles because, “I just worked really hard. I was determined,” she said.
Francsics was gracious in defeat.
“She was really consistent, she really was,” Francsics said. “She never let down. She tried really hard the entire time, not to say I didn’t try. She was really focused the entire time and never gave me a chance to really dominate the match.”
Struble, the top seed, won titles at No. 2 singles her freshman and sophomore seasons and at No. 1 her final two years.
That experience “definitely helped because it was really loud in there and it was really easy to get distracted, but I kept my composure because I’ve been in those positions before for four years,” she said.
“I know both of my (semis and finals) opponents really well and I knew they were both going to be really hard matches. I played (Aleck) last year in the finals and it went to three sets. This year, earlier in the season I beat her in three sets, so I really knew it would be a hard match.”
Aleck, seeded third, said her slow start made a difference.
“She came out hot right from the start,” she said. “I guess it just didn’t go my way today.
“We definitely had some long points, and I think she just kinda outplayed me on most of them. I think I was on the defense a lot and she was on the offense, so I had to work harder to get balls back. Emily’s a tough opponent.”
Competition between the two isn’t over yet. Both are headed to Mid-American Conference schools; Struble to Miami University of Ohio and Aleck to University of Toledo.
Bisset, the top seed at No. 2, said defeating second-seeded Pratt was extra special, avenging her only loss in two seasons.
After winning the first set at love, “For me, it’s all nerves,” Bisset said. “I came out really confident and ready to go. Then in the second set I got a little tentative, and that doesn’t really help me much. It didn’t go well, but I managed to pull it out.”
Although the two were playing on Court 4, the farthest from the bleachers, the Northern crowd certainly made themselves heard on each winner.
“The energy from the crowd helped me so much,” Bisset said. “I don’t think I would have been able to do it without everybody cheering.”
Pratt said she wasn’t ready to give up after the first set.
“I wanted to win,” she said. “I rushed in the first set and didn’t play smart. I said I wanted to do this and I almost did.”
In spite of the loss, Pratt tied a school mark, according to coach Peter Militzer.
“That’s the second time in school history that a female tennis player made the state finals,” he said. “The first time was 10, 11, 12 years ago, the 4 doubles made the state finals but didn’t win.”
Whitfield, the top seed at No. 4, has improved one step in the tournament each season.
A lefty, “For me, it’s an advantage because it spins differently with the serve, so it spins out,” she said.
Wilkenson said playing a lefty didn’t really bother her.
“It wasn’t the lefty that really threw me off; it was the fact that her ball didn’t have much pace and I couldn’t relax throughout a lot of my match because I was nervous,” she said.
Seaholm won two doubles titles. At No. 2, juniors Caity Buechner and Meaghan Flynn, the second seeds, defeated Northern’s top seeds, sophomores Felicia Zhang and Maansi Dalmia, 6-2, 7-5.
At No. 3, top seeds Sam Lareau and Emily McDermott, both juniors, defeated No. 2 senior Marta Colosimo and junior Shannon Flynn, of Marian, 6-3, 6-4.
Marian’s top seeds, senior Bianca Emde and junior McKenna Landis, defeated the second seeds, Seaholm seniors Rachel Fenberg and Laine Boitos, 6-2, 7-5, at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 4 doubles, after upsetting the top seeds in the semifinals, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s fifth-seeded senior Taylor Schermers and sophomore Alexis Bonner defeated senior Emily Benderoff and junior Jessica Morganroth, the third seeds from Seaholm, 6-4, 6-2.
PHOTO: Lisa Johnston returns a shot during her championship match at No. 3 singles Saturday which ended up deciding the MHSAA title in favor of Birmingham Seaholm. (Middle) Okemos' Emily Struble follows through on a shot during the No. 1 championship match; she finished as a four-time singles title winner. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Adams' Fu Hoping to Write Championship Headline After Repeat Finalist Finishes
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 23, 2024
ROCHESTER HILLS — An editor for her school newspaper the last two years, Nicole Fu is one who loves to tell good stories and write good headlines.
A junior at Adams, Fu enjoys getting to know people around the school and giving them a moment in the sun, so to speak.
“I love being able to talk with so many people and learn the stories behind their accomplishments,” Fu said.
It’s ironic, because come the end of next Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Tennis Finals, Fu hopes professional media outlets around the state will talk about her own story of accomplishment, possibly with headlines such as “Redemption Feels Sweet for Fu” or “Third Time is Charm for Adams Tennis Star.”
Both the last two years, Fu has advanced to the championship match at No. 1 singles in Division 1.
But while quite an accomplishment to do so as a freshman and sophomore, she also left somewhat unsatisfied, losing in 2022 to Reese Miller of Ann Arbor Pioneer (6-1, 6-1) and last spring to Sari Woo of Ann Arbor Skyline (6-3, 6-4).
“Being in the final both my freshman and sophomore years has shown me that I have what it takes to win a state championship even when it gets tough,” Fu said. “Last year especially has shown me that I’m not far from the title, and staying strong both mentally and physically is going to be crucial to hopefully winning a state title.”
No doubt, Fu should be one of the top contenders, if not the favorite.
She enters with an 18-0 record and has brilliantly handled opponents attempting to give her their best performances.
“Her ability to handle the pressure has improved a lot,” Adams head coach Greg Burks said. “She has matured as a top-level player and competes as well as any player I’ve ever had.”
Fu actually said she got her start in tennis a little later than most. After dabbling in soccer and swimming, Fu started playing tennis at age 10 when one of her mom’s co-workers gave her a foam ball and a kids racquet.
“Then I started hitting against our living room wall, and one day my mom asked if I wanted to take an actual tennis lesson,” Fu said.
From there, Fu started playing in tournaments, and the tennis bug bit her.
“I really loved competing in matches, so I didn’t stop and it ended up being very rewarding,” she said.
Fu also has an accomplished hitting partner in twin sister Katie, who lost in the championship match at No. 2 singles last year.
“She’s always a great hitting partner, and it’s really nice to have someone who understands the sport and what it takes to balance that out with everything else,” Nicole Fu said. “She’s basically my second brain too, so having her around during the season is super fun and helpful for keeping me in check.”
Fu has a collegiate future in the sport, having committed in November to play tennis at the U.S. Naval Academy.
“Obviously the education is extraordinary, and attending a service academy builds your character both physically and mentally and sets you up to make an impact on the nation,” Fu said.
When it comes to next week’s MHSAA Tournament, Fu obviously is aiming to make another impact at the championship level – but this time finish the quest she fell short of the last two years.
“This year as a back-to-back finalist and a strong favorite has put a lot of pressure on me to win my matches,” she said. “So there’s definitely a lot of expectations for this season, and managing that was a little bit tough in the beginning of the season. But over time I’ve kind of learned to embrace it, and it’s given me more confidence in my matches knowing I’m the player people are aiming to beat.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Adams' Nicole Fu returns a volley during last season's No. 1 singles championship match at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Fu, left, congratulates Ann Arbor Skyline's Sari Woo after their match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)