LP Finals Preview: Champions Reign
May 30, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Fans attending any of this weekend's four MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals will notice plenty of familiar names on the bracket sheets.
Two of four reigning team champions are ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions, and three of four No. 1 singles champions from last season will play for repeats as well.
Below is a brief look at top contenders at all four tournaments. Play begins Friday morning and finishes Saturday. Click for more including brackets and seeds for all 32 flights.
DIVISION 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top ranked: No. 1 Port Huron Northern, No. 2 Clarkston, No. 3 Grosse Pointe South.
Reigning No. 1 individual champion: Davina Nguyen, Utica.
The top three finishers from 2012 are the top three ranked teams again this weekend. Grosse Pointe South will look to defend its championship win, earned by a point over co-runners-up Clarkston and Port Huron Northern.
Port Huron Northern: The favorite is seeded at six flights and loaded with experience after last season’s near-miss. Allie Sweeney is the sixth seed at No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 2 last season, and Lizzie Brozovich is the third seed at No. 2 after finishing runner-up at No. 3; Rae Brozovich is the second seed at No. 3 singles after making the semifinals at No. 4. Three doubles pairs made at least the semifinals last season and two finished flight runners-up – Fran Basha and Alexis Wirtz are the second seed at No. 1 doubles after making their run as a fifth seed last season, and Jenna Brettschneider and Maddie Neaton are the second seed at No. 2 after finishing second a year ago. Amy Tseng and Maggie Bacheller are the top seed at No. 3 doubles after making last year’s semifinals.
Clarkston: All four singles players and the No. 1 doubles pair is seeded, led by two-time reigning No. 2 singles champion Lexi Baylis coming in as the second seed this time at No. 1. Teammate Isabella Spindler is the top seed at No. 2 singles and Dana Olsen is the top seed at No. 3 after teaming up for the No. 1 doubles championship last season. Paige Olsen, the reigning No. 3 singles champ, teams with Alex Whall as the top seed at No. 1 doubles this weekend.
Grosse Pointe South: Three of the team’s top four singles players are back from last year’s run; Carmella Goree is unseeded again at No. 1 but made the quarterfinals last season, while Brooke Willard is the fifth seed at No. 2 after also making the quarters. Maggie Sweeney is the third seed at No. 3 after winning No. 4 last season. Madie Flournoy is the top seed at No. 4.
Saline’s Mary Hanna: She is the top seed at No. 1 singles again after coming in the same in 2012, when she made the semifinals before losing to Nguyen. Hanna owns a win over Baylis this season.
Utica’s Davina Nguyen: After winning all four of her matches in two sets during last season’s No. 1 championship run despite entering as a fifth seed, Nguyen won’t surprise anyone this time – even as the third seed.
Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Anna Borowicz and Sarah Court: After winning No. 3 doubles last season, the Pioneers’ pair is the fourth seed at No. 1.
Other returning flight champions: Ann Arbor Pioneer's Evie VanDewege and Alyssa Roopas (No. 4 doubles, seeded second at No. 3 this season).
DIVISION 2 at Holly and Fenton
Top ranked: No. 1 Birmingham Marian, No. 2 Birmingham Seaholm, No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Reigning No. 1 singles champion: Abby Perkins, Mason.
As in Division 1, the top three ranked teams also were the top three finishers a year ago. Seaholm edged Forest Hills Northern by two points and Marian by six, with Bloomfield Hills Andover – No. 4 this season – tied for fourth in 2012.
Birmingham Marian: Seven flights are seeded among the top three at their respective positions, and the only unseeded player – No. 1 singles Elaine Apaza – was a semifinalist at No. 2 last season. Lauren Dietz is the second seed at No. 2, Breann Lunghamer is the top seed at No. 3, and Catherine Yaldoo is the top seed at No. 4. Bianca Emde and Tatum Schwartz played at the Finals with different doubles partners last season, but are the top seed this weekend at No. 3.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples are seeded at seven flights as well, with six seeds among the top three and three top-seeded doubles teams. And the only unseeded player – Lauren Frazier at No. 2 singles – won No. 4 in 2011. Jackie Meier and Rachel Wilson won No. 3 doubles last season and are partners on two top-seeded pairs – Wilson with Laine Boitos at No. 2 and Meier with Nancy Benda at No. 1. Lauren Benderoff and Sam Lareau are the top seed at No. 4 doubles, and Labina Petrovska should contend as the third seed at No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 2 last season.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: Four seeded doubles pairs and six seeds overall should have Forest Hills Northern in contention again. No. 1 doubles champion Victoria Minzlaff and No. 2 champs Shelby Moored and Lauren Gager – three of four champions at the top two doubles flights last season – are back with new partners. Minzlaff and Moored are the second seed at No. 1. Gager and Edie Jiang are the third seed at No. 2.
Mason’s Abby Perkins: She won the No. 1 singles championship last season as a fifth seed, so entering as a sixth seed might not mean much – but would make a great story if she repeats.
Bloomfield Hills Lahser’s Mollie Fox: She’s the top seed again at No. 1 after falling to Perkins in the semifinals last season.
Richland Gull Lake’s Sara Remynse: The senior is the second seed at No. 1 after not playing high school tennis the last two seasons. She was the No. 1 singles runner-up in Division 3 as a freshman in 2010.
Other returning flight champions: Okemos' Emily Struble (No. 2 singles, seeded first at No. 2 this season).
DIVISION 3 at Holland
Top ranked: No. 1 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, No. 2 Detroit Country Day, No. 3 Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
Reigning No. 1 singles champion: Alexandria Najarian, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.
Cranbrook-Kingswood is playing for its fifth-straight top-two finish and third straight MHSAA championship. Country Day won the title in 2010 and finished third last season, and Forest Hills Eastern is expected to make a bigger jump after tying for sixth last spring. Five of last season’s six seeded players at No. 1 singles are seeded at that flight again, and the sixth this time was the No. 3 singles runner-up last spring.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood: All four doubles pairs won flight championships last season, and five of those eight players are back in the doubles lineup, including reigning No. 3 pair Briana Latica and Holly Meers and Meg Phyle, half of last season’s No. 1 winner. The team owns the top seeds at all four singles flights: Joining Najarian are Anna Short at No. 2, Allison Motea at No. 3 and Sarah Lipworth at No. 4. Last season's No. 4 doubles champion is split among two new pairs; Lauren Lanzon remains part of the top seed at No. 4, and Christina Roualet is part of the second-seeded pair at No. 2.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets are seeded at six flights, with two players back after winning championships in 2012. Madelyn Karoub is seeded second at No. 2 singles after winning the flight, and Jane Ziecik is teamed with Ellie Miller as the second seed at No. 1 doubles after winning No. 4 singles. All four Country Day singles flights are seeded among the top four.
Ada Forest Hills Eastern: Three singles and three doubles flights are seeded, with reigning No. 3 singles champion Madeline Bissett the third seed this weekend at No. 2. Remington Gerst, while unseeded, is back at No. 1 singles, and Jada Bissett is the third seed at No. 3 after entering the fifth seed at No. 2 in 2012.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Sydney Liggins: She’s the second seed at No. 1 singles after falling to Najarian in last season’s championship match, also as the second seed.
Allegan’s Livia Christman: She made the No. 1 semifinals as the sixth seed last season, and is the third seed in that flight this weekend.
DIVISION 4 at Kalamazoo College
Top ranked: No. 1 Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, No. 2 Grosse Ile, No. 3 Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.
Reigning No. 1 singles runner-up: Meika Ashby, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central.
Sacred Heart is the reigning champion and finished runner-up in 2011, but Grosse Ile should make a strong push after finishing 14th in Division 3 last season. Gabriel Richard tied for eighth in Division 4 last season, and watch also for No. 4 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central – the reigning runner-up.
Academy of the Sacred Heart: Outstanding doubles are the strength of a team powerful throughout. Three doubles pairs are top seeded and the fourth – reigning No. 1 championship pair Kelsey Nagle and Emily Nash – is seeded second. No. 2 top seeds Heidi Lemon and Sarah Spangler won at No. 3 last season, and Kendall Lehmann – paired with Hannah Gerard as the top seed at No. 3 – was part of the No. 4 champion a year ago with current No. 3 singles player Teresa Walewander. Tate Lehmann at No. 4 singles also is top-seeded.
Grosse Ile: The Red Devils are seeded at seven flights, and six are seeded either second or third. The team’s top performers at last season’s Division 3 Final – No. 1 doubles pair Brianna Riley and Julia Formentin, who made the quarterfinals – are seeded second at No. 2 singles and third at No. 3, respectively.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard: The Irish are seeded at all four singles flights and unseeded in doubles. But those singles players are capable of pulling Gabriel Richard into contention. Colleen O’Brien is the second seed at No. 1 after winning No. 2 last season, and Anjali Sood is the top seed at No. 2 after making the quarterfinals at No. 1. Maddy Szuba is the second seed at No. 3 after making the No. 2 quarterfinals in 2012.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Meika Ashby: She’s looking to finish her high school career with a fourth championship match appearance and third championship – she won No. 2 as a freshman, No. 1 as a sophomore and finished runner-up at No. 1 last spring. She'll play No. 1 again this weekend.
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s Kelsi Black: The fourth seed at No. 1 singles last season, she made the semifinals. This spring she’s seeded third at No. 1.
Other returning flight champions: Grandville Calvin Christian's Taylor Applehof (No. 3 singles, unseeded at No. 1 this season), Chrissy Flynn (No. 2 doubles, part of fifth-seeded No. 1 doubles this season).
PHOTO: Utica's Davina Nguyen, here playing for the 2012 Lower Peninsula Division 1 title at No. 1 singles, is one of three reigning MHSAA No. 1 singles champions set to play again this weekend. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
Country Day Ends Cranes' Title Streak
June 4, 2016
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – Detroit County Day freshman Elle Hartje could’ve avoided the question; instead, she wanted to know what the situation was when she took the court with her teammate, senior Haley Mullins, in the championship match at No. 1 doubles at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Girls Tennis Finals in Holland.
Detroit Country Day, five-time defending champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood and last year’s Division 3 runner-up Grand Rapids Christian were locked in a battle royal for this year’s title. In the second-to-the-last flight title match of the day, Hartje and Mullins took the court to play the Grand Rapids Christian team of Hannah Slenk and McKenzie Moorhead.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Hartje said. “I asked Coach if we had a chance to win the title, and she said if we win our match we would win it. It didn’t make me nervous at all.”
Hartje and Mullins may have felt the nerves early when Christian jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Instead, the pair stayed strong and controlled the match the rest of the way. Hartje and Mullins went on to defeat the Eagles’ team 7-5, 6-2 to give the Yellowjackets the final point it needed to secure the championship.
Detroit Country Day finished with 32 points to edge second-place Grand Rapids Christian by one and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood by two points.
“We just slowed it down and became more consistent,” Mullins said. “Our team has never won state while I’ve been at Country Day, and we really wanted it. It’s super special because it’s my final match for Country Day, and we definitely wanted to win it.”
Country Day’s title snapped the five-year winning streak of rival Cranbrook-Kingswood, a team the Yellowjackets defeated the week before at the Regional tournament.
“I can’t remember the last time we won state,” said Country Day coach Jessica Young. “It’s been too long. Cranbrook has won five in a row, and it’s awesome to beat them.”
Country Day is actually the last team to have won the Division 3 title other than Cranbrook-Kingswood, as the Yellowjackets claimed it in 2010.
“We couldn’t have done this without a total team effort,” Young said. “We were upset at a couple of spots, so we needed some big efforts at some of our other flights. Our number two doubles team (Tara Rahmani and Chloe Ward) came up big and reached the quarterfinals. We also got a big lift from Sasha (Hartje) at one singles. It was like a 50/50 match between her and Allison Motea, and Sasha really came up big.”
After dropping the first set 5-7, Hartje, the second seed, came back to win the next two sets (6-1, 6-1) to earn her second win of the season against Cranbrook Kingswood’s top player.
“This just feels unbelievable,” Hartje said. “I’ve been trying my whole high school career to win this title. I was runner-up last year and the year before that I made it to the semifinals. To help my team win the state title is the best part.”
Hartje and Motea are no strangers as they have played each other numerous times over the years.
“We both play competitive tennis outside of high school and have played each other several times a year,” Hartje said. “We also play each other three times a year during the high school season.”
Saturday’s was the deciding match this season as Motea won the first of the year before Hartje won at the Regional meet and then Saturday.
Country Day also claimed individual titles at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
At No. 2 singles, freshman Monique Karoub defeated Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Emily Harvey 6-2, 6-2.
“It feels really great,” said Karoub, who came in as the number one seed. “I was really nervous, but my teammates really helped me. I have some really great teammates, and they came together for me and helped me out.”
At No. 3 singles, Country Day junior Sadina Fadel captured her second consecutive title. Fadel defeated Grand Rapids Christian’s Emma Greydanus 6-0, 6-0 to claim the crown.
“It was a lot easier this year,” Fadel said. “Last year I would get nervous, but this year I learned how to control my nerves. I just wanted to win this year as a team. It is a lot better when we can win as a team.”
At No. 4 singles, Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Maria Poortenga claimed the MHSAA title. Poortenga, who reached the semifinals last year as a freshman, faced a number of hurdles on her way to winning this season. Earlier, Poortenga broke a finger that resulted in her missing a few weeks, and just before the MHSAA tournament she was battling a foot injury. Poortenga actually wore a boot on her foot the week before the tournament and was unable to practice, although her doctor gave her the green light to compete in the tournament.
Poortenga made the most of her opportunity as she defeated Allyson Zwiep of Holland Christian 6-0, 6-2.
“This was real, real nice,” Poortenga said. “I was not expected to do this well. My foot was in a boot all week and I was not able to practice. I’ve had a rough season, but we have seven seniors on the team and it’s been real fun.”
Poortenga was seeded third at No. 4 singles but defeated second-seed Jenna Lee of Country Day 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals before defeating Zwiep, the fourth seed, in the final.
“I just became a lot better player since last year,” Poortenga said. “I had a lot of matches that gave me some good experience, and that really helped.”
A pair of Poortenga’s teammates also claimed a title. At No. 3 doubles, Grand Rapids Christian’s Kate Zwiers and Natalie DeBoer needed three sets to hold off Sauma Du and Alexandra Bowers of Cranbrook-Kingswood, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Cranbrook-Kingswood claimed a pair of doubles titles. In the longest match of the finals, the Cranes’ No. 4 doubles team of Ava Harb and Frances Dube outlasted Detroit Country Day’s Maya Nassif and Sharmila Prabhu 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
At No. 2 doubles, Amelia Smith and Kate Cao of Cranbrook-Kingswood defeated Caroline Heule and Olivia DeVos of Grand Rapids Christian 6-2, 6-4.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day hoists its championship trophy Saturday at Holland. (Middle) Detroit Country Day’s Elle Hartje returns a shot at No. 1 doubles with teammate Haley Mullins backing her up. (Below) Grand Rapids Christian’s Maria Poortenga won the No. 4 singles title after coming back from a recent foot injury. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)