Preview: Lineup Packed with Powers
May 30, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A number of familiar faces will return to the Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals this weekend – and the frequent contenders are expected to battle again in three of four divisions.
But a pair of hopefuls are looking to join the powers with their first MHSAA title in this sport.
Jackson Lumen Christi and Traverse City St. Francis are among the top-three ranked teams in Division 4, and both are seeking a first Finals championship – although annual power Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart remains in the mix as well.
In Division 1, meanwhile, 2017 co-champs Midland Dow and Northville are expected to decide the title, while a traditional crew of powers holds many of the top seeds in Division 2. Detroit Country Day is the likely team to beat again in Division 3.
Following are all four sites and start times for both Friday and Saturday’s rounds:
- Division 1 – Greater Midland Tennis Center (8:30 a.m. 6/1, 9 a.m. 6/2)
- Division 2 – Kalamazoo College (8 a.m. 6/1, 9 a.m. 6/2)
- Division 3 – Hope College/Holland Christian HS (Singles at Hope 8 a.m./Doubles at Holland Christian 8:30 a.m. 6/1, all finals at Hope 8 a.m. 6/2)
- Division 4 – Novi (8 a.m. both days)
Below is a brief look at top contenders at each tournament; click for more including brackets and seeds for all 32 flights across the four divisions.
LP Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Midland Dow, 2. Northville, 3. Bloomfield Hills.
These three made up the contenders in a little different order a year ago as well, and Dow and Northville shared the championship in 2017 after taking turns finishing first and second the previous two seasons. Both have nearly their entire lineups back, and Dow edged Northville by two points to win the Holly Invitational at the beginning of this month.
Midland Dow: The Chargers have top-three seeds at seven of eight flights, with Sarah Ismail on the top line at No. 3 singles and Amelie Kraef and Reema Patel the favorite at No. 4 doubles. Ismail won No. 2 singles in 2017 and No. 3 in 2016, and Patel was part of the championship-winning pair at No. 4 doubles last season. Hadley Camp and Tatum Matthews were runners-up in 2017; Camp was second at No. 3 singles and this weekend is the second seed at No. 4, while Matthews was runner-up at No. 2 doubles and is now part of the top seed at No. 1 with Kelly Livingston, part of the 2016 champ at No. 2. Unseeded No. 1 singles player Jessica Brown was runner-up at No. 2 as a freshman in 2015 and has made the No. 1 quarterfinals the last two seasons.
Northville: The Mustangs are seeded at every flight, with three top seeds and two flights in the second spot. Shanoli Kumar is top-seeded at No. 1 singles after making the quarterfinals in 2017 and winning and finishing second at No. 2 in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Serena Wang and Sophie Zhuang are seeded first at No. 1 doubles for the second straight year after making the semifinals last season, and Neha Chava and Andrea Nam are top-seeded at No. 2 doubles after Chava won that flight last spring and Nam was part of the runner-up at No. 3. Renee Torres and Tori Mady are the reigning champions at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively; Mady is seeded second at No. 2 singles and Torres is the fourth seed at No. 3 this weekend.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks finished third last season, only three points back of the co-champs and 10 ahead of the rest of the field. Junior Tia Mukherjee is second-seeded at No. 1 singles and hoping to play for the title again after finishing runner-up at that flight a year ago. Jenna Silverman at No. 4 singles and Ellen Burke and Lauren Walkon at No. 3 doubles also earned top seeds, and Kaela Bernard at No. 2 doubles was part of the runner-up at No. 4 last year.
Ann Arbor Huron’s Angie Zhou: The freshman No. 1 singles player has enjoyed a big high school debut and is seeded third at the top flight.
Plymouth’s Jessica Braun: She’s seeded fourth at No. 1 singles after making the quarterfinals as the fifth seed the last two seasons.
Grosse Pointe South’s Laurel Sullivan: She’s seeded fifth at No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up to Ismail at No. 2 in 2017.
LP Division 2 at Kalamazoo College
Top-ranked: 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 2. East Grand Rapids, 3. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Similar to Division 1, these were the top three ranked teams at this point in 2017 as well but in a different order. East Grand Rapids won last year’s championship, three points ahead of Forest Hills Northern, but Seaholm is the favorite to take back the title for what would be the first time since 2015 but fourth time this decade. Forest Hills Northern shared the championship with the Maples in 2014 and also finished runner-up in 2012 and 2015.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples have four top seeds and three second seeds after winning seven flights to claim the Regional title two weeks ago ahead of No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Marian, which beat Seaholm by a point at the Regional last year and then finished a point ahead of Seaholm at the Final. The Maples are expected to dominate doubles – Brooke Forte and Lilly Trinch at No. 2, Jessica Buechner and Lea Cazaudumec at No. 3 and Charlie Kutchman and Sofia Manzo at No. 4 are all top-seeded, while Layla Bellissimo and Emily Hirsch are the second seed at No. 1. Forte and Trinch were the No. 3 runners-up in 2017. Mollie Judge at No. 3 singles carries a top seed as well and made the quarterfinals at No. 2 a year ago.
East Grand Rapids: All eight flights are seeded, led by reigning No. 1 singles champion Sloane Teske holding down the top line in that flight. Hannah Stuursma is the reigning champion at No. 2 singles and seeded third in her return, while Halley Elliott is seeded second at No. 3 after making the semifinals at No. 4 last spring. Audrey Devries and Kate Mackeigan are the reigning champions at No. 4 doubles and seeded this time fifth at No. 2, and Alivia Vincelj is part of the third seed at No. 1 after finishing as part of last season’s runner-up at No. 2.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies are seeded in seven flights coming off last season’s runner-up run. Claire Tatman and Sydney McLean both were flight champions last season – Tatman at No. 1 doubles and McLean at No. 3 – and they’re teaming up for the fourth-seeded pairing at No. 1. Abby Zhang was part of last season’s No. 2 doubles champion and is partnering with Lilla Henkel for the third-seeded pair at that flight.
Royal Oak’s Olivia Weiss: Another standout freshman, she’s holding down the second seed at No. 1 singles.
Holly’s Taylor Barrett: The third seed at No. 1 singles made the semifinals last season as the fourth seed.
St. Joseph’s Ashley Ke: The fourth-seeded player at No. 1 came back after dropping the first set to win her Regional against Mattawan’s Kate Novak.
Mattawan’s Kate Novak: Last year’s sixth seed at No. 1 is up to the fifth seed at this Final; a year ago she upset Ke on the way to making the flight semifinals.
Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Madison Dering and Gigi Kalabat: Dering made the quarterfinals at No. 1 doubles last year with Kate Currier; Dering this time is part of the top-seeded pair with reigning No. 4 singles runner-up Kalabat, while Currier is part of the second-seeded pair at No. 2.
LP Division 3 at Hope College
The ranked: 1. Detroit Country Day, 2. Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 3. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
Detroit Country Day repeated last season as champion with a near-perfect 39 points, as Grand Rapids Christian finished second for the third straight season. Forest Hills Eastern finished ahead of Christian two weeks ago at their Regional to enter this weekend as the top contender from the west side of the state, and Cranbrook Kingswood always is in the mix with its five straight titles to start this decade hardly a distant memory.
Detroit Country Day: Freshman Julie Fliegner is the top seed at No. 1 singles, an even more substantial accomplishment as teammate Monique Karoub is the top seed at No. 2 – after winning the championship at No. 1 a year ago. Elle Hartje is the top seed at No. 3 after winning No. 1 doubles championships the last two seasons, and Alexis Nardicchio is the top seed at No. 4 after winning that flight in 2017. All four doubles pairs are seeded as well, with Maya Nassif and Ruhi Nayak a top seed at No. 3 after Nassif won the title at No. 4 and Nayak was part of the runner-up at 3 last spring. Heather Zimmerman and Tara Rahmani won the No. 2 doubles title last year, and this weekend Zimmerman enters as part of the second seed at No. 1 and Rahmani as part of the fourth seed at No. 2.
Ada Forest Hills Eastern: The Hawks are shooting for their first top-two Finals finish and came in fourth last season. All eight flights this weekend have seeds of fifth or higher, with Avneet Deol the team’s highest as a second seed at No. 4 singles after she made the semifinals at No. 3 a year ago.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes came in third a year ago and may make their run this time on the strength of powerful doubles. Kate Cao and Amelia Smith are the top seed at No. 1 after finishing runner-up a year ago, while Sophia Moustakas and Abby Foltyn are the top seed at No. 2 and Simrin Nagaraju and Mia Inakage have the top line of the bracket at No. 4.
Paw Paw’s Lorena Castellanos: Coming off a Regional title, she’s earned the second seed at No. 1 singles.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Claire Danko: Enters this weekend as the third seed at No. 1 singles after beating fifth-seeded Leah Palladino of Forest Hills Eastern in the Regional title match.
Flint Powers Catholic’s Alise Haddad: The fourth seed at No. 1 singles made the semifinals last year as the sixth seed in the top flight.
LP Division 4 at Novi
Top-ranked: 1. Jackson Lumen Christi, 2. Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, 3. Traverse City St. Francis.
After finishing runner-up and five points behind champion Ann Arbor Greenhills in 2017, Lumen Christi is favored to win its first MHSAA Finals championship in this spring. But Academy of the Sacred Heart of course can’t be counted out; the Gazelles were third last season and won four titles in five years from 2012-16. St. Francis was the runner-up for the last of those two Sacred Heart titles, in 2015 and 2016, and also is pursuing its first MHSAA title in this sport.
Jackson Lumen Christi: Seven flights are seeded, six as fourth seeds are higher. Singles are loaded. Taylor Smith at No. 1 singles and Sela Clifford at No. 2 are second seeds at their respective flights, and Smith is the reigning No. 1 singles champion after entering as a second seed last year as well and beating Kalamazoo Hackett’s Natalie Moyer, who is the top seed this weekend. Clifford, who made the No. 2 semifinals last spring, also brings championship experience after winning a No. 1 doubles title in 2016. Nina Dunigan made the semifinals at No. 3 last year and is seeded third at that flight, and Shae Wright is the reigning No. 4 runner-up and is seeded fifth in her return to that bracket. Geraldine Berkemeier and Madison King are unseeded at No. 1 doubles, but Berkemeier was half of the championship pair at that flight last season when King was part of a semifinalist at No. 2.
Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart: Six flights are seeded, and the Gazelles again are expected to surge with powerful doubles. Following in that Sacred Heart tradition are top seeds Sara Gerard and Annie Keating at No. 1, Kathryn Monahan and Serena Seneker and No. 3, and Hannah Kakos and Kate Myers at No. 4, with Nolwenn Crosnier and Kelleigh Keating second seeded at No. 2. Gerard and Keating were the runners-up last season at No. 1 and Monahan was part of the runner-up pair at No. 2 as well as a two-time champion at No. 3 doubles as a freshman and sophomore.
Traverse City St. Francis: The Gladiators are back in the hunt after a 16th-place finish in 2017. Every flight is seeded, with Paige Davies on the top line at No. 4 singles and Maddie Muzljakovich and Mary Mawby the second seed at No. 3 doubles. Anne Bandrowski, the runner-up at No. 4 singles in 2015 and No. 3 in 2016, will play her final high school event as the sixth seed at No. 1.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Maggie Ketels: The top seed at No. 2 singles is seeking her second straight championship at that flight.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Natalie Moyer: The top seed at No. 1 singles was the runner-up last year and won No. 2 in 2016.
Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Vidhya Rajaprabhakaran: Last season’s champion at No. 3 singles will play in the top flight this weekend.
Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Giselle Farjo and Jamie Todd: The second seed at No. 1 doubles includes Farjo from last year’s No. 2 champion and Todd from the No. 3 title winner.
Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Genna Goist and Ryan Perry: The top seeded-pair at No. 2 doubles includes Perry, who won No. 3 with Todd in 2017.
PHOTO: Midland Dow's Sarah Ismail returns a volley during last season's LP Division 1 Finals. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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.)