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.)
Preview: Favorites Ready for Return After Year Delay
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 2, 2021
Lower Peninsula girls tennis was among sports forced to miss the entire 2020 season due to COVID-19.
But many of the state’s powers picked right back up this spring where they left off two years ago, including two reigning Finals team champions entering this weekend as favorites again and five No. 1 singles players who have either won that flight or finished runner-up during their careers.
This weekend’s Finals schedule does feature a few changes.
For starters, while Divisions 1-3 will continue with the traditional format playing Friday and Saturday, Division 4 will be played Thursday and Friday in the Kalamazoo area.
All four divisions also will be played over multiple locations. Division 1 will be played at Mason and Okemos high schools, with the finals at Mason. Division 2 will be played at Midland Dow and Midland Tennis Center, with finals at the latter. Division 3 will be played at Holland Christian High and Harbor Lights Middle School, with finals at Holland Christian. And Division 4 will see matches at Portage Central, Portage Northern, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix and West Middle School before finishing up with championship matches at Central.
Below is a glance at the highest-ranked teams in each division and additional No. 1 singles players expected to be in contention. Click for full brackets and more on the MHSAA Website.
LP Division 1 at Mason & Okemos
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Bloomfield Hills, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
Ann Arbor Pioneer: The Pioneers are seeking their first championship since 2010 and first top-two Finals finish since 2011, and that effort will start with the top-seeded players in every singles flight – sophomore Reese Miller at No. 1, followed by freshman Elsie Van Wieren, junior Mia Goldstein and freshman Bridgette Kelly, respectively. Three of four doubles flights are seeded as well. Pioneer is 21-0-1 this spring, with its tie against No. 2 Bloomfield Hills on April 26. Miller – whose sister Kari won Division 1 No. 1 singles championships both seasons she played high school tennis – is 25-2 with her only defeats both to Detroit Country Day’s Julia Fliegner, who won No. 1 singles in Division 3 in 2018. Van Wieren is 27-0, Goldstein is 26-1 and Kelly is 23-0.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks are seeking their first championship and came up just short at the 2019 Final, finishing runner-up and two points back of winner Grosse Pointe South. They also are unbeaten at 17-0-2, with those ties against Pioneer and No. 3 Seaholm (which they had defeated two weeks earlier). Doubles will be Bloomfield Hills’ strength; No. 2 (Reagen Tomina/Carly Bernard), No. 3 (Eryn Stern/Natalie Raab) and No. 4 (Grace Bickersteth/Ellie Alberts) are top-seeded, with No. 1 Hannah Tomina and Noa Goldstein second-seeded and Hannah Tomina having been part of the No. 1 champion in 2019. The Black Hawks also have three seeded singles players, and could have an edge with No. 4 Julia Yousif entering as a second seed.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples have been among the Division 2 elite over the last two decades, with four championships (most recent 2018) and five runner-up finishes (most recent 2019) over the last 15 seasons. Seaholm did lose duals to Pioneer and Bloomfield Hills this spring, but are lined up to make a run at the top with six seeded flights including a pair of third seeds (Sofia Gryzenia at No. 2 singles and Courtney Marcum at No. 4). Ashley Buechner is part of the fifth seed at No. 1 doubles and was part of the champ at No. 4 two years ago.
Zoe Angell, Midland Dow: The Chargers senior is the second seed at No. 1 singles and undefeated this season at 23-0. She reached the No. 1 quarterfinals as an unseeded sophomore in 2019.
Alicen Liu, Novi: The Wildcats standout is 19-3 and seeded third at No. 1 singles, with losses to Miller and Angell along the way but the latter in three sets.
Olivia Weiss, Royal Oak: The fourth-seeded No. 1 singles player as a senior, Weiss is 21-0 with 18 wins by 6-0, 6-0 scores. She was the runner-up at No. 1 in Division 2 in 2018.
LP Division 2 at Midland Area
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 2. Bloomfield Hills Marian, 3. East Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies have won 10 championships and finished runner-up six times over the last 19 seasons, and are the reigning champs after edging Seaholm by two points in 2019. All eight flights this time are seeded third or higher, and six flights carry top seeds. Abby Siminski (1), Isabella Paul (2), Alexis Pena (3) and Nathalie Lanne (4) all fill the top lines of the bracket in singles, with Sophie Richards and Rhea Marwaha the top-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles and Mitra Bijoy and Ryan Morey top-seeded at No. 2. Siminski was the runner-up at No. 1 in 2019 while Paul was the champ at No. 3 and Pena the winner at No. 4. Siminski is 16-0, Paul and Pena both 24-0 and Lanne 25-0 this season.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: The Mustangs finished third and only five points off the lead in 2019, and they’re seeking their fourth title over the last 11 seasons and first since 2016. All eight flights are seeded this weekend, with big points expected in doubles. Marcella Zarouk and Meghan Sharkey are the top seed at No. 4, with Jackie Ambrose and Emily Anton the second seed at No. 3 and Gabi Saba and Keely Nykerk the second seed at No. 2.
East Grand Rapids: Most recently the champion in 2017, EGR is another frequent contender coming back from a fourth-place finish in 2019. Five flights are seeded, with No. 2 doubles pair Jennifer and Julia Ernst set up to advance the farthest among the group.
Sullivan Patel, Birmingham Groves: The third seed at No. 1 singles is 21-2 with those defeats to Siminski and a Division 1 contender. She was the sixth seed at No. 1 as a sophomore in 2019 and reached the quarterfinals before losing to Siminski in three sets.
Helaina Pietrowsky, Grosse Pointe North: The Norsemen sophomore is the fourth seed at No. 1 singles for her first Finals, and carries a 16-4 record with all four defeats against players in the Division 1 bracket this weekend.
Romika Shokohi, Mattawan: After finishing runner-up at No. 3 singles as a freshman, Shokohi will wrap up her junior season entering the weekend as the second seed at No. 1 and with a 24-2 record. Her most recent loss was to Siminski.
LP Division 3 at Holland Area
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Chelsea.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes are favored to take the next step after finishing runner-up to Country Day in 2018 and 2019. Cranbrook enters the weekend with six top seeds and a second – and the lone unseeded player, junior Nina Govila, returns to No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at that flight in 2019. Junior Charlotte Brown – the No. 4 singles champ two years ago – is the top seed at No. 2, followed by freshmen Sienna Ilitch on the top line at No. 3 and Olivia Zhang as the favorite at No. 4. Morgan Dresner-Hagman and Mia Frickey are top-seeded at No. 1 doubles, with Abby Foltyn and Gaby Levine tops at No. 2 and Daryn Krause and Kayli Lala on the top line at No. 3. Brown and Ilitch both have only one loss this season, both to Division 1 contenders.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets have won four straight Division 3 championships and enter the weekend seeded at all four singles flights and three doubles flights. Senior Julia Fliegner was the No. 1 singles champ as a freshman in 2018; she’s undefeated this spring and the top seed at her flight. Junior Lana Haddad is the third seed at No. 2 singles and was part of the No. 2 doubles championship pair in 2019.
Chelsea: The Bulldogs are seeking their first top-two finish and could make a big move after tying for eighth two years ago. Top-seeded Megan Boughton and Meghan Bareis at No. 4 doubles highlight six seeded flights overall, also including second seeds Mia Loveland and Adrienne Delong at No. 1 doubles and Anne-Marie Begola at No. 4 singles.
Aly Aldrich, Otsego: The freshman fourth seed at No. 1 singles is 20-2 with both losses to Allegan’s Regan Fales (see below) before she won their most recent match.
Regan Fales, Allegan: The Tigers junior is the third seed at No. 1 singles, and made the semifinals at No. 1 as a freshman when she also was the third seed.
Julie Gurne, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: The Fighting Irish freshman is the second seed at No. 1 singles, with all of her losses either to Fliegner or contenders in Divisions 1 or 2.
LP Division 4 at Kalamazoo/Portage Areas
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. North Muskegon.
Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart: The Gazelles jumped from No. 4 to the top spot in the final coaches poll as they pursue a third-straight championship and fifth in six seasons. They are seeded at all eight flights with the top seeds at the first three doubles flights led by Marisa Nafso and Kayla Nafso at No. 1, Lulu George and Maggie Pulte at No. 2 and Noor Simon and Angelina Kakos at No. 3. Marisa Nafso was part of the No. 2 champion in 2019. Reagan Beatty is the third seed at No. 1 singles having previously won titles at No. 3 as a freshman and No. 1 doubles as a sophomore. Junior Isabelle Burg should provide another boost as the second seed at No. 2 singles.
Traverse City St. Francis: The Gladiators have finished runners-up three of the last five seasons and were sixth in 2019. A strong singles lineup leads six seeded flights. Alexi Lewis at No. 2 and Jillian Sodini at No. 3 are top-seeded, while Mary Chittle at No. 4 and Lilly Bobrowski at No. 1 are second seeds. Lewis and Sodini are undefeated this spring.
North Muskegon: The Norse have seven times been Finals runners-up and like St. Francis are seeking a first championship. Six flights are seeded, led by a pair of second-seeded doubles pairs: Marilyn Gaston and Greta Goszkowicz at No. 4 and Gabby Gaston and Sarah Muzzy at No. 1. Senior Alicia Hall is 22-3 and seeded fourth at No. 1 singles.
Ines Latorre, Elk Rapids: The sophomore standout is the sixth seed at No. 1 singles but with her only losses (three) all to Bobrowski.
Moorea McNalley, Clarkston Everest Collegiate: The Mountaineers’ junior is 28-0 and the top seed at No. 1 singles after also winning the flight as a freshman in 2019.
Igne Savickas, Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard: Four of her six losses this spring as a senior have come to McNalley, Beatty or Notre Dame Prep’s Gurne, part of a resume that earned her the fifth seed at No. 1.
PHOTO: Clarkston Everest Collegiate’s Moorea McNalley returns a volley during her No. 1 singles championship run in 2019. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)