Pioneer Emerges as LPD1 Winner by Single Point as 2021 Co-Champs Match Up Again
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2022
KALAMAZOO — For the second year in a row, the top two teams battled for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division I girls tennis championship. But this time, Ann Arbor Pioneer did not have to share the title.
Pioneer, which led by a point after Thursday’s matches through the quarterfinals, held on for the win with 33 points at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium on Friday.
Bloomfield Hills finished second with 32, Troy was third with 22, Midland Dow fourth with 15 and Novi fifth with 14.
In a match of flights, Pioneer swept the singles and Bloomfield Hills swept the doubles.
“To sweep the doubles, I don’t know the last time it’s been done in Division 1 – but it’s an incredible task,” Black Hawks coach Chris Dobson said.
“We came here hoping to win the tournament outright, and it just didn’t happen. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier the way the girls played.”
Top seeds won seven of the eight flights, but Pioneer coach Tom Pullen said the unsung hero of the day was senior Aditi Ganesan.
She and sophomore Ella Vogel lost to Bloomfield Hills seniors Eryn Stern and Grace Bickersteth, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 3 doubles.
“Aditi Ganesan is the story of the tournament for me,” Pullen said.
Ganesan explained: “I just got over being sick and I hadn’t touched a tennis ball in over a week. We were afraid I was going to pass out in the first round (Thursday).”
Pullen said he hoped she would get at least through the first round for the two points, but “she got all the way to the finals.
“If she hadn’t, then we lose. That was really a gutsy performance.”
Vogel said three days before the tournament, she was waiting to see which alternate would be her partner.
“Then two days ago, they said Aditi can play, so I was really happy,” Vogel noted. “She’s done so well, and I’m so proud of her.”
Stern and Bickersteth started the season with different partners but jelled once they were paired.
“I’m good at the baseline and she’s amazing at the net, so that works really well,” Stern said. “We’re seniors, so it’s a great way to go out.”
Bickersteth said after losing in the Finals last year, “It felt good to come out and play my game and prove myself this year. We were undefeated this whole season.”
Pullen said these nail-biting tournaments are not necessarily his favorite.
“This is my 62nd time to the state (boys and girls) so I’ve been through a lot of stress and a lot of exciting situations, and this one was so rewarding,” he said.
“I’m proud of these girls.”
After sweeping the singles flights last year, Pioneer returned with the same top seeds this season, beginning with junior Reese Miller, who defeated freshman Nicole Fu, Rochester Adams, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1 singles
“My first two matches (Thursday) I was pretty nervous for both of them,” said Miller, who has already committed to play tennis at University of Michigan, where her sister Karina just finished her sophomore season. “I had a lot of expectations for myself, definitely more than last year.”
Rochester Adams did not qualify as a team, but Fu’s teammates showed up in full force to cheer her on.
“They made a bunch of posters, so it was really welcoming and fun,” she said.
Playing in her first MHSAA Tournament, Fu said, “When I first came here, I just hoped I would play well.
“I think high school tennis is nice to have a coach with you and you have a team with you. It’s a lot of fun.”
Pioneer sophomore Elsie Van Wieren defeated senior Laura Leiti, Midland Dow, 6-0, 6-3, to repeat at No. 2 singles.
“Last year was the highlight of the year, being a state champ, so I knew that feeling,” Van Wieren said, adding this year was even sweeter. “Coming out this year, there’s more pressure but it’s such a great atmosphere.”
Leiti, who lost in the semifinals last year, complimented Van Wieren.
“She’s a great player,” Leiti said. “She hits hard. She got all the shots. Her footwork is phenomenal.
This year, “I like to think that keeping my cool helps. I try not to let the fluctuating emotions get to me too much. I tried to keep my feet moving.”
Midland coach Garrett Turner said although Leiti lost, by making it to the finals she earned that one special point that put Midland Dow all by itself in fourth place after tying for fourth last year.
“It’s fun to be able to have someone here through the long haul and have the team stay the whole time to cheer for her and see what it’s like to play in the finals,” Turner said.
“This is a pretty special year because we came in as the eighth-ranked team. We outperformed significantly from where we were slated to be.”
At No. 3 singles, senior Mia Goldstein defeated senior Grace Shaya, from Bloomfield Hills, 6-4, 6-1.
In spite of going just two sets, the match lasted two hours.
“Every game was pretty close,” Goldstein said. “With her game style, she doesn’t miss a lot and she hits the ball with a lot of spin, not a lot of pace, so I had to generate all the power myself. I think I was exerting a lot of energy.”
Shaya said since it was her last competitive match ever, “I said to myself I was just going to play every point like my life depended on it. I wanted to give it every single thing I had.”
A pair of sophomores toughed out a grueling match at No. 4 singles, with Bridgette Kelly defeating Julia Yousif, also of Bloomfield Hills, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Kelly’s win clinched the title for Pioneer.
“It’s really great,” Kelly said. “I was pretty confident going into the third set. I knew what I had to do: make balls and play my tennis.”
Yousif said she just kept believing in herself and fought to the end.
“I just tried to pump myself up and keep the energy,” she said. “She was playing better (in the third set) so more credit to her.”
At No. 1 doubles, Bloomfield Hills senior Danielle Herb said losing was not an option for her and fellow senior Carly Bernard.
The pair defeated Troy juniors Stephanie Ochoa and Grace Zhu, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, in the last match on court.
Their key to winning is “our communication,” Herb said. “I was a singles player (last year) going on to dubs. It was a big transition. We stayed positive and we fought.”
The exuberant Bernard added, “We turned it on at the right time. My feet feel better now.
”We just love each other. And I’m crazy in the head and she knows how to calm me down.”
Black Hawks senior Noa Goldstein and junior Natalie Raab had won doubles championships last season with different partners. They prevailed this time together at No. 2 over Troy senior Sophie Chong and sophomore Nika Tanako, 6-1, 6-2.
“Winning twice in a row is pretty awesome,” Goldstein said. “It’s really great winning as a senior. I really wanted this this year.”
Raab said her specialty is at the net.
“I love playing net,” she said. “I love to crush the ball. I’m the person who likes to attack people — not personally,” she quickly added, laughing.
“Noa has an amazing ground-stroke game, and her serves set me up, We always have fun and have good energy.”
No. 4 doubles featured the only mini-upset of the tournament with second seeds Colleen Pettengill, a junior, and senior Ellie Alberts defeating Troy’s top seeds, junior Vienna Thieu and sophomore Michelle Baik, 6-0, 7-5.
For Pettengill, celebrating her first individual title, “It was definitely overwhelming, but it’s so nice to be here with the rest of the team.”
Alberts said the partnership works well.
“She’s the ground-stroker, and I’m the volleyer,” she said. “She always hits her targets, and I hit mine. It just works perfectly.
“We’re so pumped up the whole time. Last year, I lost in finals. And this is my senior year, so it’s huge for me.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Bridgette Kelly sends back a shot at No. 3 singles Friday at Kalamazoo College. (Middle) Bloomfield Hills' Colleen Pettengill returns a volley during a No. 4 doubles match. (Below) Troy's Sophie Chong keeps a volley going during her No. 2 doubles match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
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).