Motivation Not in Short Supply as Country Day Emerges, Avenges with Finals Win
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2024
KALAMAZOO - Fueled by a Finals runner-up finish last year and second-place Regional showing two weeks ago, Detroit Country Day unseated two-time reigning champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood on Saturday and clinched this season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 girls tennis championship.
Country Day totaled 33 points at Kalamazoo College's Stowe Stadium to win its first crown since 2021. Cranbrook Kingswood earned second with 29 points, followed by Chelsea (24), Bloomfield Hills Marian (22) and Ada Forest Hills Eastern (21).
"We knew coming in that either us or Cranbrook Kingswood could win this meet. I just felt like our fight and courage were excellent, and that's what happens when everything falls into place. I'm so happy for these girls," said Country Day's first-year head coach Nick Fiaschetti. "This team is incredible. Our seniors are our biggest leaders, and everyone is like a family – and when you have that combination, it makes you difficult to beat."
Country Day didn't let its latest championship chance slip through its grasp. Cranbrook edged Country Day by just two points in 2023. The Cranes (20 points) also edged the Yellowjackets (17) to win their Regional two weeks ago.
"Country Day is a very good team. It really comes down to how well players handle the pressure. The teams that stay relaxed the most generally are the one that wins a state championship,” Cranbrook coach Grant Asher said. “We came up a bit short this year, but I'm proud of our girls. They competed well from the start until the end of the season. We look forward to next season,"
Country Day claimed flight titles at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles, along with a crown at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 1 singles, Sophia Grzesiak defeated Forest Hills Eastern's Lilah Zaskowski in the final 6-1, 6-1.
"I'm just really proud of winning an individual title because it helps our quest for the team title. We lost Regionals, but I feel like it gave us the push we needed to come out this weekend and win it all," Grzesiak said.
At No. 3 singles, Helen Benjamin from Country Day topped Muskan Rekhani from Forest Hills Eastern 6-3, 6-1.
"I had to adjust my strategy to get all the balls in. I just had to be consistent and aggressive,” Benjamin said. “My approach shot and putting it away for the point are my biggest strengths. Our captains are great, and we are all very good friends and mentally strong."
At No. 4 singles, Country Day's Katie Han outlasted Cranbrook's Olivia Zhang 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
The Yellowjackets’ No. 1 doubles combination of Marin Nolander and Peja Liles edged Chelsea's duo of Meghan Bareis and Haley Hopkins 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
"They came out strong and aggressive and we found our momentum in the second set," Norlander said.
"We played our game and had fun. Our net play really helped us out as well," Liles added.
Chelsea unseeded sophomore Samantha Bieber downed Country Day's top-seeded Quinn Norlander 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, to win No. 2 singles.
"(Norlander) seemed to be struggling with balls hit to her backhand, so I decided to take advantage of that,” Bieber said. “My groundstrokes are strong, and I think my endurance plays a big part in my success. Just being able to stick with it helps me in tough matches."
Bieber's high fitness level comes from being a dual-sport athlete in track & field. She competed in this weekend's Tennis Finals because it’s her primary sport, but she qualified for the Track Finals as well as a member of two Bulldogs relay teams.
"Running helps me mentally because in a race you have to keep pushing, so that helps me in tennis and it also teaches me time management," Bieber added.
Cranbrook showed its dominance in the doubles flights by winning at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4. Sophia Kouza and Grace Zhang squeaked out a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 win over Chelsea's Lucy Taylor and Brenna Taylor at No. 2, and the Cranes' No. 3 tandem of Madeline Day and Sanvi Upadhyayula were victorious over Marian's Audrey Agbay and Yana Higgins 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-3. Cranbrook's No. 4 junior duo of Michelle Chen and Jessica Hall defeated Marian's Laura Higdon and Stella Glorio 6-2, 6-3.
"We had a lot of highs and lows today," Day said. "Our camaraderie helps keep our spirits up even when one of us is down."
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Country Day’s Marin Norlander prepares to serve during a No. 1 doubles match Friday. (Middle) Cranbrook Kingswood’s Kayli Lala returns a volley during her No. 1 doubles match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Senior-Powered Ishpeming Follows Doubles Dominance to 1st Finals Win
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
October 5, 2023
KINGSFORD – Ishpeming coach Kaitlin Rich said she had a call to make after Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals.
The school never needed a girls tennis banner before, but they do now.
The Hematites won their first U.P. title Wednesday at Kingsford, edging West Iron County 19-18 on a warm, windy day in Dickinson County.
It’s been their goal since finishing runner-up to Iron Mountain last year. Rich was reminded of that earlier this week in her Facebook memories – her team of mostly seniors were juniors then, and their goal was, “U.P. ’23.”
“They set that goal, and they crushed it,” Rich said. “They showed up every day. They worked hard.”
Munising was third with seven points. Gwinn, Iron Mountain, Ironwood and Norway all had three.
After the longest event of the day finally wrapped up, the Ishpeming players went to the scoring area and confirmed their victory. They celebrated with their trophy and looked forward to their fire truck escort into Ishpeming later that evening.
Ten of the 12 Ishpeming players were seniors. One of the two sophomores is Rich’s sister.
“I have been connected to these seniors since I taught them in third grade, and as a coach, there’s not a greater moment that I think I’ve had or will ever have than this moment right now,” Rich said. “These girls work so hard every day. Most of them dual sport. They are the definition of athlete: They have commitment to each other, they have true grit and there’s nothing that will top this day for me as a coach – going forward, in the past, nothing.”
West Iron County, which won all four singles flights, came up just short of a first U.P. title since 2020.
“Overall a very good day for the team,” WIC coach Jen Schive said. “They are a team of seniors, so we were coming out and we were ready to compete against them. I think the girls overall did pretty well this year. I’m excited for next year because I have a good group of incoming juniors.”
Ishpeming won on the strength of its doubles teams, all four of which won Wednesday.
Addison Morton and Payton Manninen defeated West Iron County’s Destiny Lemery and Olivia LaMay 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 1 doubles final.
The No. 1 seeds started slow in their semifinal win over Ironwood after a first-round bye. They had to wait again to play the final, and they overcame a slow start once again.
“But we were able to bring the energy and play how we know we can play,” Morton said. “It was really good to be able to take the championship.”
She said the team title was “really important for us,” with all the seniors they had this season.
Rich said it’d be hard to find a more athletic doubles team than her No. 1 pair.
“They are just so athletic,” she said. “And I’ll tell you, those two have a fire in them that you can’t coach and they are just mentally tough.”
Ishpeming’s No. 2 doubles team of Jenna Maki and Emma LaFave defeated West Iron’s Aubrey Richardson and Kaycee Ingram 6-2, 6-0.
“I think this is the best me and Emma have ever played together,” Maki said. “We were pretty nervous going into it. Last time we played, we played about two weeks ago in Ishpeming, and it was tiebreaker each set, so we thought it was going to be a lot more of a challenge. But we played really great and swept them.”
They complement each other well, Rich said.
“Jenna Maki is just a beast at the net and Emma has just beautiful placement. She can get the other team running. She sees the gaps and hits them all the time,” Rich said.
The No. 3 duo of Ciara Schaffer and Kadie Kaukola downed Munising’s Tessa Salo and Emmy Crisp 6-1, 6-4.
“It feels really good to finally see our work pay off, all the practice we’ve put in, and also being our senior year, getting the title,” Kaukola said.
They work well together also, Rich said.
“The growth they’ve shown from the beginning of the season to now is just amazing,” she said. “And I’ll tell you, Katie Kaukola is just an athlete and she can get to any ball on that court. Ciara is a competitor, and she loves the game more than anybody.”
Rich’s sister, Ava Jo Hares, and Kaitlyn VanDeuren defeated Munising’s Tamryn Nolan and Lauren Nelson 6-2, 6-0, for the No. 4 doubles win. Hares said they did well battling the strong wind.
They’d lost only to Negaunee in what was a dominant season.
“They again are very well-balanced,” Rich said. “Kaitlyn is phenomenal at the net. She’s very intimidating up there. She’s very tall, and she gets a lot of the balls down. And then Ava hustles and she has very good placement and she also has a really good serve, especially for a sophomore.”
West Iron County swept the singles championships.
The Wykons’ Aubrey Bice defeated Gwinn’s Miaha Schiefel 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in No. 1 singles.
“It shows me that all my hard work finally paid off and at least I can go out with a bang in my last year,” Bice said.
Coach Schive said Bice is a phenomenal player.
“She’s a very focused player; she is a true No. 1,” Schive said. “I am glad that she won today, she fully deserves it. She’s been fighting all season and working every little bit, everything that she knows that she needs to win.”
Seanna Stine swept Ishpeming’s Emily DeMarois 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.
“I stayed confident, and I hit well,” Stine said.
Schive said Stine showed her senior athleticism all season.
“She hits the ball well, and she strives to really work on her placement as a strategy,” she said.
Kaitlyn Smith took No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-1, over Ishpeming’s Lilly Swanson.
“What a competitor,” Schive said. “All year long, she strives to do well, she works and puts a lot of time in. You can see it paid off today.”
Erin Kolbas defeated Ishpeming’s Lilly Ryan 6-1, 6-0, at No. 4 singles. It was the final match of the day and all of the remaining players were able to watch.
“At first it was just me and the other team, and my team wasn’t over there. I was a little bit worried, I was scared. But then my team came over and they were cheering me on, so I felt a lot better,” Kolbas said. “I genuinely didn’t expect to get this far because this is my first year.”
Schieve said the sophomore has improved “leaps and bounds” this year.
“She has put her time in,” Schive said.
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming's Emily DeMarois finished second at No. 2 singles at Wednesday's UP Division 2 Finals in Kingsford. (Middle) West Iron County's Aubrey Bice won No. 1 singles. (Below) Gwinn's Miaha Schiefel finished runner-up at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Jason Juno.)