Sacred Heart, Moyer Cap Familiar Climb
June 2, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
NOVI – This might have been the third time in her four-year high school career that Kalamazoo Hackett senior Natalie Moyer was in this spot.
But that doesn’t mean nerves still weren’t a factor when she advanced to the No. 1 singles championship match at the MHSAA Division 4 Finals on Saturday.
“At first I was a little nervous and was playing like I was nervous,” Moyer said. “I just kind of calmed down and played with confidence. Just played my game.”
Moyer definitely did that against Taylor Smith of Jackson Lumen Christi, surviving the first set with a 6-4 win before rolling to a 6-0 win in the second to claim her second Finals championship.
As a sophomore, Moyer won the title at No. 2 singles, but it was another match that was most on her mind Saturday.
Last season, Moyer lost in the championship match at No. 1 singles to Smith by scores of 6-2, 6-2, something that fueled Moyer all offseason and throughout an unbeaten regular season that saw her enter this weekend as the No. 1 seed at the flight (Smith was No. 2).
“I was really motivated to get the state title this year,” said Moyer, who will play in college at Xavier University. “That’s what I wanted all season.”
While Moyer ruled the day individually, the team portion of the tournament belonged to a traditional power.
It felt weird for Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart to not win the crown last season after winning it all four of the previous five years. But Sacred Heart easily returned to the top perch in the state.
The Gazelles scored 32 points, seven ahead of Traverse City St. Francis and 12 ahead of Jackson Lumen Christi, the top-ranked team heading into the tournament.
Sacred Heart entered the postseason ranked No. 2, but coach Judy Hehs said that didn’t provide her team any extra motivation.
“We don’t talk about the rankings,” Hehs said. “We play a really tough schedule, and we don’t understand what it means to play Division 4 schools. They know the Catholic League and they know the independent schools. When we get here, 50 percent of the teams, they don’t know. We don’t talk about rankings.”
Sacred Heart saw Reagan Beatty win the flight title at No. 3 singles with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Taylor Kennedy of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, and the Gazelles dominated the doubles portion of the competition winning all four flights.
Sara Gerard and Annie Keating at No. 1 doubles, Nolwenn Crosnier and Kelleigh Keating at No. 2, Kathryn Monahan and Serena Seneker at No. 3 and the team of Hannah Kakos and Kate Myers and No. 4 doubles all brought home flight championships.
“Every flight on this team this year did what they had to do,” Hehs said. “Everyone contributed.”
Maggie Ketels of Hackett won the title at No. 2 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Oriana Gulvesan of Ann Arbor Greenhills, and Paige Davies of St. Francis won the No. 4 singles title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Hannah Hodgson of Monroe St. Mary.
In search of its first MHSAA Finals team title in this sport, St. Francis finished as the runner-up for the third time in four years – but this year had a more uplifting feel to it than the others.
“We feel really good about it,” Gladiators coach Paul Bandrowski said. “We were 16th last year, and we lost a lot of seniors. We came back and jumped from 16th all the way back to second. We have a lot of young players.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Kalamazoo Hackett's Natalie Moyer fires a shot during her No. 1 singles Quarterfinal. (Middle) Academy of the Sacred Heart's Reagan Beatty volleys during a No. 3 singles match for the eventual team champion. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
LP Tennis Finals: Brackets at a Glance
May 30, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Only three champions are back this weekend in flights they won at the 2011 Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals.
That means the likelihood of a lot of first-time individual winners -- and some shuffling among the contenders for MHSAA team titles.
Three of last season's Finals came down to three or fewer points. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in Division 3 is the only reigning champion ranked No. 1 again heading into this weekend. Division 4 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart is the only top-ranked team this weekend seeking its first MHSAA title.
Below is a look at the races at a glance in all four divisions, plus flights that could make the biggest differences in deciding team champions. Play begins at 8 a.m. both Friday and Saturday, with Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center, Division 2 at Kalamazoo College, Division 3 at Fenton and Holly high schools and Division 4 at Holland High School. Admission is $5, or $10 per car where applicable.
The Contenders
Division 1: Port Huron Northern is ranked No. 1 and seeking its first MHSAA team championship since 2002. But the Huskies must hold off No. 2 Clarkston, which won its first team title last season and has six seeded flights – including five seeded among the top two in their respective flights. Port Huron Northern is seeded in seven flights, with four either numbers one or two. Grosse Pointe South, ranked No. 3, is seeking its first team title since 2008 but has won 12 in the tournament’s 30 seasons. (Click for full brackets)
Division 2: If a team is going finish ahead of reigning champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, it’s likely going to be from the Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills area. FHN has won six straight championships, all outright except when it shared with Bloomfield Hills Marian in 2010. Marian is ranked No. 1 this spring and finished ahead of No.3 Seaholm at their Regional, while Bloomfield Hills Andover is No. 2. Forest Hills Northern is ranked No. 4, and despite six seeded flights will need some upsets to keep the streak going. (Click for full brackets)
Division 3: Cranbrook-Kingswood is the favorite again after edging Detroit Country Day by a point in 2011. The Cranes are seeded at every flight, with six flights at Nos. 1 or 2. East Grand Rapids, owner of 16 MHSAA titles, is ranked No. 2 as a team but seeded in only two singles flights. The Pioneers will need big points from doubles flights that are all seeded No. 3 or better. (Click for full brackets)
Division 4: Academy of the Sacred Heart is expected to take another step with the top ranking after coming in as runner-up a season ago – Sacred Heart’s doubles teams have the top seeds in all four flights. But Capital Area Activities Conference White rivals Williamston and Lansing Catholic – ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively – will provide plenty of competition. The Hornets are seeded at seven flights and seeking their first championship since 2008. (Click for full brackets)
Top flights
Plenty playing for No. 1: The No. 1 singles bracket in Division 1 is filled with intriguing contenders. Top-seeded Mary Hannah, of Saline, was a Quarterfinalist last season when she lost to Grand Ledge’s Hailey Barrett, who is seeded No. 3 this spring. No. 2 seed Katie Brozovich of Clarkston was the champion at No. 3 singles in 2011 and has dominated tough competition this season.
Cousin connection: Port Huron Northern’s Lizzie and Rae Brozovich – Katie’s cousins – are the top seeds at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively, in Division 1.
Unfinished business: Four of the eight players who made up the Division 1 No. 1 doubles semifinalists last season are back at that flight, but Ann Arbor Pioneer’s top-seeded pair of Alexa Arvidson and Julia Rampton are the lone pair of that group that returns intact.
Running up to the top spot: Bloomfield Hills Andover’s Kristen Law and Erin Weingarten were the runners-up at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, last season. Both were two seeds in 2011 and are four seeds this weekend in the same flights.
The champ is here: Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Alexandria Najarian is one of three returning champions – Clarkston’s Lexi Baylis (Division 1 No. 2) and Kalamazoo Hackett’s Meika Ashby (Division 4 No. 1) are the others – but should get a tough test from second seed Sydney Liggins of Grand Rapids Catholic Central, a semifinalist in 2011.
Our turn: Allegan’s Kaycee Harness will try to help teammate Christin Drozd get one more win this season after Drozd and Hannah Schulz finished runner-up at No. 1 doubles in Division 3 last season. Harness played No. 3 singles at last season’s Finals.
Singles showdown: Ashby, mentioned above, is the returning champ in Division 4 but seeded only No. 2 behind Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Kasey Gardiner – the No. 1 champion in both 2009 and 2010. Gardiner didn’t compete in last season’s Finals.
Doubles must deliver: Academy of the Sacred Heart is planning on big finishes from its doubles teams, and that could start at the top with No. 1 pair Kelsey Nagle and Emily Nash. They are the top seed after making the semifinals last season as the No. 3 seed in this flight.
PHOTO: Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Alexandria Najarian won the No. 1 singles championship in Division 3 last season.