LP Tennis Finals: Brackets at a Glance

May 30, 2012

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
 

Only three champions are back this weekend in flights they won at the 2011 Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals.

That means the likelihood of a lot of first-time individual winners -- and some shuffling among the contenders for MHSAA team titles. 

Three of last season's Finals came down to three or fewer points. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in Division 3 is the only reigning champion ranked No. 1 again heading into this weekend. Division 4 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart is the only top-ranked team this weekend seeking its first MHSAA title.

Below is a look at the races at a glance in all four divisions, plus flights that could make the biggest differences in deciding team champions. Play begins at 8 a.m. both Friday and Saturday, with Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center, Division 2 at Kalamazoo College, Division 3 at Fenton and Holly high schools and Division 4 at Holland High School. Admission is $5, or $10 per car where applicable.

The Contenders

Division 1: Port Huron Northern is ranked No. 1 and seeking its first MHSAA team championship since 2002. But the Huskies must hold off No. 2 Clarkston, which won its first team title last season and has six seeded flights – including five seeded among the top two in their respective flights. Port Huron Northern is seeded in seven flights, with four either numbers one or two. Grosse Pointe South, ranked No. 3, is seeking its first team title since 2008 but has won 12 in the tournament’s 30 seasons. (Click for full brackets)

Division 2: If a team is going finish ahead of reigning champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, it’s likely going to be from the Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills area. FHN has won six straight championships, all outright except when it shared with Bloomfield Hills Marian in 2010. Marian is ranked No. 1 this spring and finished ahead of No.3 Seaholm at their Regional, while Bloomfield Hills Andover is No. 2. Forest Hills Northern is ranked No. 4, and despite six seeded flights will need some upsets to keep the streak going. (Click for full brackets)

Division 3: Cranbrook-Kingswood is the favorite again after edging Detroit Country Day by a point in 2011. The Cranes are seeded at every flight, with six flights at Nos. 1 or 2. East Grand Rapids, owner of 16 MHSAA titles, is ranked No. 2 as a team but seeded in only two singles flights. The Pioneers will need big points from doubles flights that are all seeded No. 3 or better. (Click for full brackets)

Division 4: Academy of the Sacred Heart is expected to take another step with the top ranking after coming in as runner-up a season ago – Sacred Heart’s doubles teams have the top seeds in all four flights. But Capital Area Activities Conference White rivals Williamston and Lansing Catholic – ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively – will provide plenty of competition. The Hornets are seeded at seven flights and seeking their first championship since 2008. (Click for full brackets)

Top flights

Plenty playing for No. 1: The No. 1 singles bracket in Division 1 is filled with intriguing contenders. Top-seeded Mary Hannah, of Saline, was a Quarterfinalist last season when she lost to Grand Ledge’s Hailey Barrett, who is seeded No. 3 this spring. No. 2 seed Katie Brozovich of Clarkston was the champion at No. 3 singles in 2011 and has dominated tough competition this season.

Cousin connection: Port Huron Northern’s Lizzie and Rae Brozovich – Katie’s cousins – are the top seeds at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively, in Division 1.

Unfinished business: Four of the eight players who made up the Division 1 No. 1 doubles semifinalists last season are back at that flight, but Ann Arbor Pioneer’s top-seeded pair of Alexa Arvidson and Julia Rampton are the lone pair of that group that returns intact.

Running up to the top spot: Bloomfield Hills Andover’s Kristen Law and Erin Weingarten were the runners-up at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, last season. Both were two seeds in 2011 and are four seeds this weekend in the same flights.

The champ is here: Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Alexandria Najarian is one of three returning champions – Clarkston’s Lexi Baylis (Division 1 No. 2) and Kalamazoo Hackett’s Meika Ashby (Division 4 No. 1) are the others – but should get a tough test from second seed Sydney Liggins of Grand Rapids Catholic Central, a semifinalist in 2011.

Our turn: Allegan’s Kaycee Harness will try to help teammate Christin Drozd get one more win this season after Drozd and Hannah Schulz finished runner-up at No. 1 doubles in Division 3 last season. Harness played No. 3 singles at last season’s Finals.

Singles showdown: Ashby, mentioned above, is the returning champ in Division 4 but seeded only No. 2 behind Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Kasey Gardiner – the No. 1 champion in both 2009 and 2010. Gardiner didn’t compete in last season’s Finals.

Doubles must deliver: Academy of the Sacred Heart is planning on big finishes from its doubles teams, and that could start at the top with No. 1 pair Kelsey Nagle and Emily Nash. They are the top seed after making the semifinals last season as the No. 3 seed in this flight. 

PHOTO: Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Alexandria Najarian won the No. 1 singles championship in Division 3 last season.

Holland West Ottawa Remains Unmatched in Duals with 35-Win Streak

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

May 18, 2023

HOLLAND – The West Ottawa girls tennis team has experienced unbridled success in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red over the last six years.

West MichiganThe Panthers own an impressive streak of 35 consecutive dual wins dating back to 2017.

And while several factors have contributed to West Ottawa’s dominance, a devotion to reaching its full potential has been a mainstay.

“The girls have been terrifically dedicated,” said Panthers coach Pete Schwallier, who’s been at the helm of the program for 16 years.

“They've had access to all these different coaches helping them. It’s one thing to have it, it’s another thing to really take it in and use it and they have just 100-percent committed themselves to doing all of these things.

“Whether it be the strength training, the mental side of it or the on-court training. Just all of it. They’ve been doing so much.”

The Panthers will compete in a Lower Peninsula Division 1 Regional today at Hudsonville and chase a fifth-consecutive title. The LPD1 Finals are slated for June 2-3.

The last time West Ottawa lost a dual match to an O-K Red school was May 8, 2017, against Rockford.

Three days later, the Panthers avenged that loss by winning the conference tournament. They’ve won six straight O-K Red championships, including four outright.

“There’s a lot of pride in that, but I think it’s been earned with a lot of hard work,” West Ottawa sophomore Jessica Zhang said. “We put a lot of hard work into these matches. A lot of physical strength and effort along with the mental aspect of the game.”

Despite recently extending their current dual winning streak, the Panthers did finish second to Rockford in this week’s conference tournament by a single point, 60-59 – resulting in a shared league title.

Schwallier said the setback won’t change his team’s intense focus as the Panthers embark on the final two weeks of the season. 

“These girls have worked really hard to not use wins and losses as a motivator,” he said. “Their core values are to be people of integrity and to give their very best. They are very adamant about that.

“They want to win very badly, but they do have this belief that the best way to get there is to not focus on how many wins we've had or which teams we’ve been beating this year. They maintain a strong character and work ethic on the court, and they have a belief that wins will be the result of that.”

The success of the program has been fueled by several people behind the scenes, as well as the team’s local club, the DeWitt Tennis Center.

Andy Blake is the team’s strength and conditioning coach and works with West Ottawa consistently throughout the season, while Hope College junior Kayla Wolma is looking toward a career in sports psychology and has been the Panthers’ mental training coach. 

West Ottawa boys coach and girls assistant Brian Metz and past Kalamazoo College All-American David Borski also have played vital roles.

“It’s been a gradual ramp-up in the amount of community members who have been willing to volunteer as assistant coaches on our staff, and their expertise in particular areas has helped the girls’ development,” Schwallier said. “They are examples of individuals who have helped us make big gains.”

Sophomore Eden Hamilton said Blake and Wolma have been instrumental in assisting the team.

“He helps us do lifts and cardio drills to help with footwork and upper-body strength,” she said. “He also helps with nutrition, and it helps us play better throughout the season. Kayla helps us with our mental state, and we feel like we can play to our full potential because we are preparing ourselves mentally and physically.”

Former players Chloe Karp and Kennedy Dumas also helped set the bar.

Karp graduated in 2019, and according to Schwallier, was the best player to go through the program.

“A lot of young girls in middle school and the underclassmen watched what she did and how she trained and how she got good,” Schwallier said. “The girls started copying her training regiment, and now we have several Chloes. She was the catalyst, and then it was Kennedy Dumas, who was part of the young crew watching Chloe and then took it to the next level.”

Those who have benefited from looking up to past standouts include current singles players Chloe Duckworth and Kam Dumas, both seniors, junior Megan Blake and sophomore Danielle Lebster.

“This next group is continuing that,” Schwallier said. “These four have many young players in middle school who are watching them just as closely as they watched the girls before them. It just shows the power of role models and the value of having good role models.”

This year’s senior group also has influenced younger ones.

“The upperclassmen on our team have definitely set an example for me, starting in middle school,” Zhang said. “They’ve always been around, and I've always looked up to them when it comes to not only tennis but mindset, and how to carry yourself as a person.”

Dean HolzwarthDean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties. 

PHOTO courtesy of the Holland West Ottawa girls tennis program.