Negaunee Extends Title Streak to 3
September 30, 2016
By Ryan Stieg
Special for Second Half
NEGAUNEE — There’s a budding dynasty in Negaunee.
The girls tennis team was the two-time reigning champion at the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals, and on Thursday, the Miners added another title.
Negaunee won four of the eight championship matches to take the overall victory with 16 points. Miners Lexi Peterson and Maci Aho won at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively, while Negaunee took the No. 3 and No. 4 doubles title matches as well.
“There were some question marks coming into this year,” Negaunee coach Kyle Saari said. “We lost two good singles players with the Ring sisters. So we knew we had to replace a No. 1 and No. 2 and get some depth throughout the lineup.
“The thing about all these girls is that they all listen. Anything I tell them, they take it to heart. They attack it with 100 percent effort. They really bought it all year long that they were going to do their best on the last day, and it’s nice that they were rewarded for it.
“The success on both our girls and boys team is that you need solid athletes,” he added. “That’s the key. We are able to get good athletes and good kids as a whole.
“You let them do the work and guide them where you can in certain spots, and it becomes contagious. You get a group of leaders that can help develop the next group, and that’s something that we’ve been fortunate to have the last few years.”
In girls tennis, before this string of three straight titles, Negaunee had shared the title with Kingsford in 2012. Before that, the Miners hadn’t won a U.P. team championship since 1987 in Class C-D.
This fall, Peterson finished her season undefeated, while Aho got some revenge in the finale by defeating Escanaba’s Megan Marenger.
“This feels so great,” Peterson said. “I went undefeated, and to go from JV doubles to varsity and win is awesome. I’m really happy with my year, and I can’t wait to play again.”
“It’s my first year on varsity and I think I did well all around,” Aho said. “The girl I just played (Marenger) beat me during the season, and it was nice to pull it together and get her today and beat her.”
While Saari gave credit to his team for the Miners’ success, Peterson and Aho gave it to their coach.
“If Coach tells us we can fly, we’d be able to fly,” Peterson said. “We practice hard and have fun. We like being close together and make each other better.”
Kingsford and Menominee tied for second place with 10 points each. Katy Hicks won the Flivvers’ only title, taking the No. 1 singles championship, and coach Meagan Harrington was proud of how her cousin played.
“Katy did a great job today,” she said. “She is a really strong player, and she just came out and played her game. She just did great. I’m super proud of her as a senior for her winning GNC (Great Northern Conference) and U.P. this year. It’s great for her to go out that way.”
For Hicks, a U.P. title was a great way to wrap up her career with the Flivvers as she hopes to continue her career at the next level.
“I’m so happy,” she said. “My serves were really good today. It’s really exciting to end it this way. I came in hopeful, and it feels good to win in front of my family.”
The Maroons’ two titles came at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles with both finals victories coming over Kingsford. That wasn’t a surprise as Menominee coach Nickie Mathieu said that was her team’s strength all season.
“All three of them had a chance to win, and they are all very strong,” she said. “We were peaking at the right time. We started out slow, but I told the girls that it is time to peak at the end. They did what I asked.”
Escanaba and Gladstone tied for fourth with six points apiece. Escanaba’s lone win came at No. 2 singles as Taylor Gauthier defeated Marquette’s Elysa Olivier in two sets in the final.
“Taylor has had a good year,” Escanaba coach Denny Lueneburg said. “She has only lost twice this year, and she finished strong. She struggled a little bit earlier in the year, but she got through it and I think that helps. She was a lot calmer in the finals.”
“I thought I had a good chance to win today because I played Marquette before,” Gauthier said. “I get to a lot of balls that are hit short, so I think that helped me out a lot today.”
Gladstone’s best performance came from Andie Balenger, who lost in the No. 3 final to Peterson.
“Andie did well,” Braves coach Halley Reichel said. “She’s a freshman, so we’re happy that she made it that far. I think today she had some nerves she didn’t normally display, and it might’ve just been because she was in the championship. I’m excited to see her continue to get better, though.”
Marquette finished sixth with five points, and despite the lower team finish, coach Derek Sandstrom was content with how his team played.
“Elysa made it to the final today and that was the only girl that she lost to all year,” he said. “She’s had a really nice season in terms of consistency. She’s battled some freshman jitters, but most of the time, she’s been really consistent.
“I thought that Bethany (Wright) at No. 3 singles did well, and she made it to the semis. She had a tough draw last year, so I was happy to see her have some success today. No. 1 (Hannah Swajanen) and No. 4 (Lexi Anderson) singles also got a win for us, so that was nice as well.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Iron Mountain won two singles championships on the way to a third straight team title. (Middle) Kingsford’s Katy Hicks capped her high school career with a title at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Elizabeth Bailey.)
Westwood, Munising Star Shine Again
September 28, 2017
By Ryan Stieg
Special for Second Half
ISHPEMING – The Westwood girls tennis team has built a dynasty in the Upper Peninsula, and on Wednesday, it added another title to its trophy case.
It wasn’t easy though. After sharing the title with Munising last season, the Patriots had to hold off Iron River West Iron County at the end and edged the Wykons by one point at 17-16 for the Division 2 championship. Westwood has won eight of the last nine U.P. titles in its division.
“This was just a successful year,” Westwood head coach Chris Jackson said. “Heading into this year, we had to replace nine girls and we weren’t sure where we would be. I think most people thought this was going to be a rebuilding year, but we had some girls step up big for us.”
Munising took third at the meet with 10 points followed by Iron Mountain (8) and Ishpeming (5).
Westwood was led by its doubles teams as it won three of the four final matches including a three-set thriller by the tandem of Karlie Kargela and Karlie Patron at No. 1 (7-5, 4-6, 6-4). The Patriots also had two-set wins at both No. 3 with Hailey Mattila and Katelyn Anttila and No. 4 with Ellie Miller and Kaylee Larmour, while West Iron’s Emily Nelson and Avery Bosiek took the No. 2 match.
For West Iron County, it was a disappointing day as the Wykons were in six of the final eight matches but only picked up two victories. West Iron was in a similar situation last season and head coach Joe Serbentas said his team was determined to make up for that this year. However, it just wasn’t meant to be.
“We were disappointed last year, so the girls worked really hard to get back here and they wanted it badly,” Serbentas said. “I thought we really put ourselves in a good spot with seeds today to come out and win.”
On the singles side of the court, it was Munising’s time to shine. The Mustangs won the Nos. 1 and 2 matches thanks to strong performances by the Ackerman sisters, Marissa and Kelsea. Marissa won the No. 1 match over West Iron’s Katarina Serbentas, and Kelsea defeated Iron Mountain’s Jordan Stoner in the No. 2 competition. Marissa hasn’t lost a match in three years.
“Our singles have been the strength of our lineup all year,” Munising head coach Rod Gendron said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough depth today with doubles to win the title, but I’m very proud of how the girls competed. They’ve had some tough matches and on days like this, people are playing their best, so it’s not easy to win.”
Gendron also praised both Ackerman girls and explained how even though they may be related, their styles are completely different on the court.
“They both have a lot of experience and they both have been U.P. champs, so they know what it takes,” he said. “They do not give up no matter what the score is. They keep fighting and they make you earn everything. Marissa is a little more competitive, while Kelsea has nicer strokes. Marissa will do anything to win like throwing lobs or ugly shots while Kelsea is a more classic style player with good strokes and a strong serve. That’s the big difference between the two.”
Westwood and West Iron split the other two matches. West Iron’s Izzy Hoogenboom won the No. 3 match over Munising’s Kennedy Tate, while Westwood’s Tessa Leece took the No. 4 match over West Iron’s Anna Malmquist.
“Tessa hasn’t gotten a lot of publicity this year, and that’s hard as a No. 4 because everyone wants to talk about the No. 1s,” Jackson said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody as composed as Tessa. No matter what the scenario, she maintains her composure, competes at a high level and learns from her mistakes.”
Ishpeming’s lone appearance in the finals was at No. 3 doubles where Audrey Stetson and MaKenzie VanBuren fell to Mattila and Anttila. Even though it wasn’t the day they were hoping for, Hematites head coach Erl Langness saw some positives in his team’s performance.
“We won the spots where we had seeds,” he said. “Madison Pruett had an excellent match against the girl from Munising (Marissa Ackerman) and our No. 1 doubles also had a good day. They lost to West Iron in three sets. It was a pretty good day. We would’ve like to do better, but we did okay. I think we’ve made a lot of progress since the beginning of the year.”
In the end though, the day belonged to Westwood. And even though the outcome came down to the wire, Jackson liked it that things turned out that way.
“Close matches like these make the tournament fun,” he said. “It came down to how the finals went, and that’s how it should be.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Munising's Marissa Ackerman returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match Wednesday at the U.P. Division 2 Finals. (Middle) Westwood's Karlie Kargela returns a shot at No. 1 doubles. (Photos by Rachel Oakley.)