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.

West Iron County's Aubrey Bice won No. 1 singles.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.”

Gwinn's Miaha Schiefel finished runner-up at No. 1 singles. 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.

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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.)

Greenhills Girls Clinch 1st Repeat Team Championship in Semifinals

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

June 3, 2023

KALAMAZOO — Ann Arbor Greenhills made school history this weekend and did so with a “secret weapon,” according to coach Mark Randolph.

The Gryphons ran away with the team title at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Girls Tennis Tournament on Saturday at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.

Greenhills amassed 36 points to outdistance the field and win back-to-back state titles, a first in school history for the girls team.

Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard finished second with 20 points, followed by Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart with 18 and Traverse City St. Francis with 16.

Two Grand Rapids teams, West Catholic and Catholic Central, tied for fifth with 15 points each.

“I was saying to anyone who would listen, I think we were here five years ago and we had one singles qualifier who lost 6-2, 6-2, in the first round,” Randolph said.

“We’ve sort of been off the stage. Because the boys have been strong, people assume it’s just been the same (with the girls). We’ve had to build.”

Division 4 tennisThe building started in the middle school, where the “secret weapon” comes into play.

Five years ago, the coach’s wife, Becky Randolph, joined the English faculty at the school.

“I asked her to take over the middle school team,” the coach said. “While she doesn’t know anything about tennis, she knows an awful lot about young women and program building.

“She put it in these kids’ heads that if they stayed, they would get a great education but also be the start of a dynasty, she called it. So she sold them on the start of a dynasty.”

Things bode well for the future with the Gryphons losing just one senior, Manassa Gollapalli, to graduation.

The second-seeded senior defeated top-seeded senior Audrey Lee, of St. Francis, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 4 singles final.

Gollapalli’s 6-1, 6-2, semifinal win over sixth seed Laura Williams, from Father Gabriel Richard, was actually the point that clinched the title for her team.

“It’s my last match of my high school season, so I was just trying to enjoy it,” Gollapalli said. But even if she had lost the flight final, “The team won so I can celebrate with my team no matter what happens.”

Finishing second, Father Gabriel Richard also loses just one senior and has an eye on closing the gap with its in-city rival.

The Irish started the season unranked, but climbed to third in the polls heading into the tournament.

Last year, they finished 13th at the Finals.

“Going from 13th to second is an incredible jump,” coach Jim Sayed said. “I have to acknowledge our senior captain Vivian (Heegan) and our junior captains Deena (Farjo) and Laura (Williams) for all their hard work this year for guiding the young players and showing them the way. We’ve done an incredible job all season long thanks to them.”

Division 4 tennis - Father Gabriel RichardThe tournament was the third time the Irish and Greenhills faced off this season.

“Congratulations to Greenhills,” Sayed said. “They’re an incredible team. We gave it our best shot against them. We had a lot of good matches, and the girls fought hard.”

Knowing the two teams will be back on the courts against each other next season, Sayed added: “That Greenhills team is very talented, returning a lot of players and we’ll have to put in a lot of hard work in the offseason to catch them. But I think our girls are up for that challenge.”

Greenhills sophomore Maddie Morgan, who lost in the semifinals at No. 1 singles last year as the third seed, lived up to her top billing at No. 1 singles this year with a 6-4, 6-3, win over freshman Jenny Florea, the second seed from Father Gabriel Richard.

This was the fourth time the two have played this season, with the previous three going three sets each.

“It was crazy,” Morgan said. “I won the first two and she won at Regionals. It’s kind of a rivalry.

“I was kind of thinking this one could (go three sets) too, but all the previous matches, I won the first set then lost the second so this time I knew I had to grind in the second set and try to get it out.”

Florea said playing in her first MHSAA Tournament was a “little nerve-wracking as a freshman, but I tried my best. I did what I needed to. It was a tough loss.

“I was hoping I could end it in two, but it didn’t happen. I made more mistakes and she put more balls in play. She had a tough mindset.”

Sophomore Shangyang Xia, the top seed from Greenhills, defeated Heegan, the second seed from Father Gabriel Richard, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 2 singles.

Although she defeated Heegan twice this season, Xia said she did not take anything for granted.

“Everybody improves, and she’s a really well-rounded athlete,” Xia said. “It was definitely hard to play her, but I just tried to be myself and I came through.”

As for winning the team title in the semifinals, “It was a weight lifting off our shoulders when we heard that,” she said.

Heegan said cheerleading in the fall and playing basketball in the winter helps her tennis.

“It almost seems like having a break between each tennis season helps me, weirdly enough,” she said.

Looking back on her four years of varsity tennis, “You don’t really get a setting of high school tennis anywhere else,” she said. “It’s very friendly between teams and you kind of root for teams you know at big tournaments. It’s cool in that way. It’s a fun sport, a social sport.”

A pair of freshmen faced off at No. 3 singles, with Greenhills top seed Danica Rakic-Dennis defeating Father Gabriel Richard’s second seed Kenna Trost, 6-1, 6-1.

Playing in her first MHSAA Tournament, “It’s really fun,” Rakic-Dennis said. “It’s a new experience playing with a team. It’s a great stadium, and I’m happy to be here.”

Two of the closest finals matches were in doubles.

At No. 1, Academy of the Sacred Heart’s third seeds Jade Horcoff and Kayla Nafso defeated Greenhills top seeds Sophie Chen and Lauren Ye 7-5, 7-6(2). At No. 3, Academy of the Sacred Heart’s top seeds Alana Hindo and Presley Krywko defeated second seeds Meera Pandey and Meera Tewari, from Greenhills, 6-2, 7-6(3).

In the other two doubles finals, Academy of the Sacred Heart’s top seeds Maggie Pulte and Lulu George defeated Wixom St. Catherine’s third seeds, Katie Grewe and Julia Ivezaj, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2, while Greenhills’ second seeds Arya Prabhakar and Aoife Tang defeated Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s fourth seeds, Mary Irwin and Arabella Sassano, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 4.

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PHOTOS by High School Sports Scene