Powers Continue Run with Shared D2 Title
May 31, 2014
By Mark DeHaan
Special to Second Half
HOLLAND – Been there, done that.
For the past 11 years, one of three teams has won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 girls tennis championship: Birmingham Seaholm, Bloomfield Hills Marian, or Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern. And, on Saturday, those teams again finished 1-2-3.
Actually, it was 1-1-3.
For the second time in those 11 seasons, team co-champions were crowned as Forest Hills Northern and Seaholm tied with 31 points. Marian finished third with 24 points while East Grand Rapids was fourth with 22.
Early in the day, Seaholm led as junior Claire Markley earned the first individual title of the day at No. 3 singles, defeating Catherine Wingrove of Okemos 6-2, 6-2.
It was Markley's third appearance in a Finals title match, and her first win.
“This year I was really excited to make it to the finals and win,” Markley said. “I just played my hardest, and I am really excited to play so well.”
Seaholm won its second flight title at No.4 doubles. Freshmen Sophie Dixon and Lisa Johnson beat Katie Champion and Marta Colisimo from Marian 7-5, 6-0. It was the third time this season that the two teams had met.
“We've played them two other times this season, so playing them again we were familiar with their style of play,” Johnston said. “We just stayed focused to win it.”
In a two-point hole, the Huskies began to rally and get back into the thick of the championship race.
A win at No. 2 doubles for Forest Hills Northern seniors Hailey Jones and Stephanie Nguyen by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 gave the Huskies their first flight title of the day.
Forest Hills Northern then secured another win at No.2 singles from junior Madeline Bisset, who won an important matchup against Seaholm’s Lauren Frazier 7-5, 6-1.
“I just knew that our team really needed that point, especially again Seaholm,” said Bisset. “I went for every single ball, and just fought through the heat.”
Marian took its lone flight title of the day at No.4 singles as Sophia Belardo won 6-3, 6-1 over Sydney Whitfield of Forest Hills Northern.
Sophomores Emily Mcdermott and Meagen Flynn then won at No.3 doubles for Seaholm. The Maples defeated their opponents from East Grand Rapids 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
“All season long the assistant coaches and I have really been trying to emphasize that there's a pedigree that goes with playing at Seaholm, and we see results in a match-by-match basis that the girls buy into, and do so legitimately,” Seaholm coach Scott Ransome said. “We place plenty of emphasis on playing up to our seeds, but certainly playing up to the expectations that we have; this is Seaholm tennis that we play, and it's quality tennis.”
The Huskies continued to rally late. With only two matches left on the court, Forest Hills Northern remained down a point.
At No. 1 doubles, the third-seeded Pioneers of East Grand Rapids took the first set 6-4. Down 5-2 in set two, the Huskies mounted a comeback. The No. 1 doubles team of senior Victoria Minzlaff and junior Jessie Stevens responded by winning five straight games to take the second set 7-5, then won the third 6-4 to take the match.
“I remember looking at my partner and saying, 'Vic, will you fight with me?', and after that, we just worked so hard to make it to three sets,” Stevens said.
Every year, the Huskies write the word 'FIGHT' on their forearms for the MHSAA tournament as a reminder. Forest Hills Northern did exactly that, and it nearly led them to a sole claim of the championship.
At No. 1 singles, Forest Hills Northern junior Claire Aleck earned a three-set 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 semifinal win to earn a berth in the final against back-to-back No. 2 singles champion Emily Struble of Okemos, who moved up to No.1 singles for her junior season.
In the No. 1 singles final, the last match left on court, Aleck won the second set 6-2 after losing the first 6-1. But the Forest Hills Northern junior ran out of gas, and Struble, who came in seeded fifth in the No. 1 singles flight, completed her third individual title run with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 victory.
“Coming in as the five seed, I knew that I would have to upset higher seeds in order to win. But I knew that the people that were ahead of me, I could at least compete with,” Struble said. “My last match, I knew she would be a little bit worn out from her last match, so I wanted to keep her on the run as much as possible.”
Said Aleck: “Emily's a great opponent and she deserves it. I'm not disappointed with the way I played, I went out there, gave it my all and fought hard.”
“Claire Aleck is probably one of the hardest workers I've ever had,” said Forest Hills Northern coach David Sukup. “She just works hard every day, every minute, all the time. She had a hard three-set match in the semis, and we didn't think she'd have as much energy back. But she fought all the way into the third set.”
Likewise, Okemos coach Lisa Semerly praised her junior for her toughness.
“(Emily) did fantastic. She remained composed throughout her matches, and we knew that the five seed was a little understated,” Semerly said. “She's just a strong competitor.”
The team co-championship marked the ninth MHSAA title for Forest Hills Northern in the last 12 years, while Seaholm has won three championships during that span.
PHOTOS: The Forest Hills Northern No. 1 doubles pair of senior Victoria Minzlaff (left) and junior Jessie Stevens battled back to win their flight championship Saturday. (Middle) Birmingham Seaholm's Caity Buechner sends back a shot during a No. 2 doubles semifinal. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
GP South, Pioneer's Miller Take Back Titles
June 1, 2019
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
MIDLAND – After disposing of reigning No. 1 singles champion Tia Mukherjee of Bloomfield Hills in the semifinals Saturday afternoon at the Greater Midland Tennis Center, 2017 champ Kari Miller of Ann Arbor Pioneer had to refocus her energy to take on Lily Jones of Grosse Pointe South.
Stunned in the first set 5-7, Miller regrouped and wore down Jones, winning the next sets 6-1 and 6-0, to claim her second Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals title at the top flight in three years.
“I knew she had gone through a tough three-set match in the semifinal,’’ said Miller. “In the first set she just ran everything down and hit some great shots. I tried to keep her running in the second set.
“This is just as special as my freshman year. I was glad my teammates stuck around, and some even came down to watch.’’
It’s rare that champions face off, but that was the case when Mukherjee faced Miller in the semifinals. Miller had defeated Mukherjee in the 2017 championship match, and in Saturday’s rematch prevailed again, 6-2, 6-4.
Miller didn’t play high school tennis last year, and Mukherjee assumed the role as the most dominant player in Division 1, winning 6-0, 6-0 in the 2018 final against Northville’s Shanoli Kumar. Miller spent her sophomore year playing in elite tournaments across the country, including in Palm Springs, Calif., Atlanta and Grand Rapids.
She fared well in those three events, finishing in the top five at all three venues.
"I've had some great ones,” said longtime Pioneer girls and boys head coach Tom Pullen. “It's special for her to come back and play high school tennis because she didn't have to do it. She's special.''
Since Miller had already determined that University of Michigan would be her college choice, coming back to play high school tennis at Pioneer became appealing.
“Since she has already committed to Michigan, I think it was a no-brainer that she came back to play for the team this year,’’ said Pioneer assistant coach Dan Goldberg. “This is a totally different dynamic from the national USTA scene. There were some nerves in her first match today. She wasn’t really used to this environment and everybody yelling and screaming. It affected her a little bit. She had to settle in and go about her business like this was any other tournament.’’
The third-seeded Jones may have fell just a set short of closing out the title at No. 1 singles, but her point from a three-set win over Plymouth’s second-seeded Jessica Braun in the semifinal played a significant role in deciding a tight team race.
Jones eventually won the match over Braun, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to face Miller in the final. South, ranked No. 1 coming into the tournament, won the team title just ahead of Bloomfield Hills, 30-28.
“She’s getting tired now, but that was a big point for us,’’ said coach Mark Sobieralski during her match with Miller.
The championship was South’s first since 2014 and third this decade.
“It’s all about the mental,’’ he said. “We didn’t talk about where we were ranked. We try to keep things in small terms. (Friday) was phase 1. Today was phase 2. We had to take care of business today.’’
Top seed Miriam Gandham of Ann Arbor Huron dominated Savannah Matuszewski of Midland Dow, 6-0, 6-0 to clinch the No. 2 singles title.
Midland Dow’s Laura Leiti, the top seed at No. 3 singles, defeated Jenna Silverman of Bloomfield Hills, 6-2, 6-2 in that final.
“I had played her before so that helped, but states is so hectic,’’ said Leiti. “I just went out there and hit the best I could. I tried to adapt to her game, but it was a matter of me moving my feet and going for shots.’’
At No. 4 singles, top seed Moira Hix kept South in the running for the team title with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over three-seed Claire Earley of Midland Dow.
The No. 1 doubles title went to the Bloomfield Hills duo of Madison Narens and Hannah Tomina with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Northville’s Maya Mulchandani and Sophie Zhuang.
South claimed the No. 2 doubles title as Anna Dietz and Claire Beardslee defeated Northville’s Madison DeYoung and Andrea Nam, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.
Northville’s No. 3 doubles team of Connie Gao and Michelle Tong defeated South’s Kaitlin Ifkovits and Mairin Heimbuch, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to claim the crown.
At No. 4 doubles Bloomfield Hills’ top seeds Susan Baenen and Emma Gray knocked off Troy’s Lana Rihawi and Julia Macri, 6-0, 6-4.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Kari Miller lines up to return a volley during Friday’s rounds at Greater Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Grosse Pointe South’s No. 1 doubles pair of Kate Beardslee and Maddie Hurley earned their team key points by reaching the semifinals. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)