Top-Ranked Titans Build Special Season
By
Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
May 12, 2017
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
JACKSON – Jackson Lumen Christi junior Taylor Smith is a team player who is in an individual situation.
Just two years ago, Smith, who plays No. 1 singles for the Titans girls tennis team, prioritized basketball over tennis because she enjoyed the team aspect so much.
The passion has changed. Tennis is her game, and her team recently moved up to No. 1 in the Lower Peninsula Division 4 rankings. It is a great situation for someone whose favorite part about her sport is the team aspect.
“I liked tennis, but I didn’t love it until last season,” said Smith, who advanced to the MHSAA Division 4 quarterfinals at No. 1 singles as a freshman and sophomore before losing. “Being out there alone, that is why it took me so long to like tennis. I wanted to play college basketball until last summer.
“When I do USTA tournaments, I’m by myself, and it isn’t any fun. I’m winning only for myself. I like to work toward a team to get farther along. It’s not about me getting there; it is about us getting there.
Reaching No. 1
No tennis team can make it to No. 1 in a state poll with just one star player, and Lumen Christi is no different. While Smith – already a two-time Jackson Citizen Patriot Player of the Year in girls tennis – is the Titans’ feature player, she is surrounded by talent.
“We have six juniors and two seniors this year,” Lumen Christi coach Terri McEldowney said. “When these girls were in sixth or seventh grade, (assistant coach) Marcy Smith and I took over the middle-school program, so they’ve all played together through the years.
“When they came on as freshmen, they were good but not maybe match tough. Now we have them as juniors and seniors, they are match tough. Now it’s all coming together.”
Lumen Christi (13-0) finished fourth last year in Division 4 and began the season ranked No. 4. But all that changed after a competitive quad meet hosted April 28 by the Titans, who defeated current No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett 5-3, current No. 8 Traverse City St. Francis 7-1 and current No. 10 Kalamazoo Christian 7-1.
“Beating Hackett was huge for us,” junior Sela Clifford said. “That was one of the teams we were worried about. We just went out there and did our thing. It helped us to know that we can beat Hackett as a team.”
That major showing in the stacked quad came a week after Lumen Christi won the Ann Arbor Greenhills Gryphon Tournament. Greenhills currently is ranked No. 2. After that impressive showing, the Titans vaulted to No. 1.
For a program that has never finished higher than third at an MHSAA Finals, the Titans were thrilled.
“We were all screaming. We were so excited,” Smith said. “The past few years we were like top five, but this year we want to win. We’ve been waiting, and this is our chance.”
McEldowney also knows what comes with the No. 1 ranking.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “The girls hear it a lot, and they are excited about it and everything, but what comes with it is added pressure to always do so well. When you don’t, it’s hard; it’s hard on teen-age girls, but it’s an exciting time, too.”
Clifford, who plays No. 2 singles, welcomes the pressure.
“Pressure helps me to perform better, so I think pressure will help us perform better as a team,” Clifford said. “I feel like we’ll always have a target on our back. I think the target will help us to work harder as a team.”
Family tradition
Smith comes from a family with strong tennis ties. Her mother, Marcy, the assistant coach, played at Lumen Christi and went on to play at Marquette University.
Smith’s aunt, Keri Thompson, was a two-time Division 4 Finals champion at No. 1 singles in 1999 and 2000 while playing for Lumen Christi. She went on to play at Michigan State University and currently is the girls tennis coach at Royal Oak Shrine.
“Tennis has always been in my life, and I grew up with it,” Smith said. “I was constantly playing tennis and working on it.”
There was no shortage of people wanting to help.
“She started playing when she was 4,” Smith’s mother said. “We had a court in the backyard, so we’ve been drop-feeding balls to her since that age. She plays USTA tournaments, and she wants to play in college.”
It wasn’t until last summer, when Smith was introduced to Junior Wightman Cup action, that her focus changed from basketball to tennis nets.
“I went to the Wightman Cup, and its exactly how college tennis is played, and once I did that, it was like, ‘This is what I want to do and what I love.’ Then I focused on tennis and not basketball,” Smith said.
Smith has a strong game, but both her mother and McEldowney point to her composure on the court as maybe her greatest asset.
“What is great about Taylor is she is such a mature, even-keel player,” McEldowney said. “She doesn’t seem to get rattled. Maybe the only thing we wish she had a little more of is a little more fight in her, but I think that’s going to come. It is partly her personality.
“She is a mature, quiet young lady. We see the fight in her, but it is quiet. That is not necessarily a bad thing.”
It is the thing that makes her mother the proudest when she is on the court.
“When she fights and works as hard as she can, it makes me the proudest,” she said. “There is nothing better than watching her give 100 percent and still stay composed and be a leader.
“She has very good court composure.”
Taylor has very good technique as well.
“She’s like the whole package: strong serves, depth, cross-court,” McEldowney said. “She has a wonderful cross-court forehand that she can get with that topspin.”
But what she isn’t is a finished product. And everyone agrees on a part of her game that might need the most work.
“When she plays a player who is giving her a run for her money, she needs to get a little quicker,” McEldowney said. “Some of the better tennis players that she comes against – I don’t think they’re better skill-wise or better strategy-wise – but they might be a little better at the feet. And it’s not like she doesn’t have it, but she doesn’t have it all the time.
“There is tennis feet. It’s not that she is slow to get to the ball, but she doesn’t get there in a tennis form, like her hips are in the way or she isn’t set up properly for the ball.”
Smith is on the same page as her coach.
“My footwork is definitely my weak spot for sure,” Smith said. “I have not focused on tennis until last summer, so the footwork thing is a big part of my game that I need to improve.”
Smith is 18-1 this season, and her lone loss was a compelling 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 loss to Natalie Moyer of Kalamazoo Hackett during the quad.
Deep pool of talent
Lumen Christi’s top four singles players have a combined record of 66-10. The four doubles teams are a combined 64-8. That’s depth.
“We knew we had a good crop, definitely, but did we think that we would be in the running to bring a banner to Lumen Christi? It wasn’t even on my radar. I just didn’t think that way,” McEldowney said. “We don’t even have a club in town, so it’s hard to get these girls playing all year round.
“Really, out of our 13 varsity players, I’d say five at the most play year-round, meaning that they play at Craig Calderone’s court or maybe up to Lansing for lessons. The rest are athletes. They play all the sports all year long and they come out and pick up a racket and they’re a little rusty and then they pick it right up.”
Cilfford is in a unique situation. Last year, she was moved from singles to No. 1 doubles and teamed with Lauren Reynolds. They went on to win the Division 4 championship at their flight.
“Sela could have been our 2 or 3 singles player easily, as with her doubles partner, but we knew putting them at 1 doubles would make our doubles better,” McEldowney said. “Sela really wanted to play singles, but she sacrificed that, as did her partner, so that we’d be stronger team-wise.
“We told her that if you do this, you will win states, and they did.”
Looking back, Clifford sees a lot of positive things that came out of that “sacrifice.”
“I learned a lot about teamwork and not breaking under pressure,” she said. “I learned a lot more mental toughness from that. It definitely made me a better singles player.”
This year, Clifford is 17-1 at No. 2 singles.
“I’m very excited; it’s like a new step for me and a bigger step,” she said. “I miss playing doubles with my partner, though.”
Sophomore Nina Dunigan is 14-5 at No. 3 singles, and freshman Shae Wright is 17-3 at No. 4 singles.
The No. 1 doubles team of senior Jocee McEldowney and junior Geraldine Berkemeier is 17-0 after moving up from No. 2 doubles a year ago. They survived a heart-breaking and stressful match in the MHSAA semifinals last season.
“We had a little bit of a conflict in the last match,” Jocee McEldowney said. “We were both very different last year, and this year we have meshed together and bonded and found out how to use our strengths with each other’s strengths. Last year it was our first year playing together.
“When there is a missed shot in doubles, you have to forgive your partner and move on. A ball, whether it was in or out, was questioned, and we disagreed. It helped us and showed us that the other person really wants to win.”
To their credit, they learned from their disagreement instead of allowing it to fester.
“At the beginning of our season, our coaches sat us down, and Marcy said, ‘When I was playing in college, I got really frustrated, and my partner looked at me and said, ‘Do you think I’m trying to hit it out?’” McEldowney recalled. “I felt like Geraldine and I sometimes got upset with each other, and obviously she is not trying to hit it out, so we’re bonding a lot better because of how we left it last year and the confidence we have. We definitely have unfinished business.”
It doesn’t hurt that Lumen Christi had a Finals championship at No. 1 doubles a year ago.
“Geraldine could certainly be in the singles lineup, but we knew pairing her with Jocee would just strengthen the team, and they will do well,” Terri McEldowney said. “They haven’t lost, and they’ve beaten some of the teams that finished in the top four in the state last year. They have the potential to be a state champion this year.”
Juniors Josie Gibson and Madison King are 17-2 at No. 2 doubles, and the Titans are 13-6 at No. 3 singles while battling an injury. Junior Mackenna Crowley is 4-2 with senior Meghan Fors, her regular partner who is injured, and 9-4 with sophomore Macaulie Simpson.
At No. 4 doubles, sophomore Macie Richmond and freshman Cat Carroll are 17-0.
“We are deep,” McEldowney said.
Aiming for history
As the top-ranked team, the Titans feel they can realistically think about winning the first MHSAA Finals championship in girls tennis in school history. They also realize nothing is guaranteed and nothing will be handed to them.
“I never realized how good of a team we had,” Berkemeier said. “I’ve always felt like where is that one team that is going to beat us at states and take it from us? We haven’t played (Bloomfield Hills Academy of the) Sacred Heart yet, but we’ve played some of the top teams and won.”
While Lumen Christi has had a lot of success in several sports (44 MHSAA titles across nine sports), it is known as a football school, and last fall the Titans won their ninth championship in that sport.
“The football players talk about being state champs and try to brag about it all the time,” Berkemeier said. “Don’t get me wrong, that’s awesome, but I want to have it, too.
“Last year, everyone thought we had a lot of potential, and we did, and we wanted to win state so badly, and we went in there and got our hearts broken. I remember leaving the court after semifinals and bawling my eyes out. We wanted it so much, and now it makes me want to choke up thinking about it.”
That memory certainly is fuel to make another run.
“I think the chemistry on the team is meshing,” Coach McEldowney said. “They get along, and they are just a fun bunch of girls. They cheer each other on from all parts of the court, so I think it’s just kind of a year of coming together tennis-wise, mental-wise, and smart, match-play wise.
“But I know Hackett is going to be coming for us, and so will Greenhills. And you can’t count out Sacred Heart, and Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian is having a fine year.”
Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lumen Christi's Sela Clifford readies to return a volley during last season's Division 4 championship match at No. 1 doubles. (Middle) Clifford, now a junior, and 2016 doubles partner Lauren Reynolds receive some coaching during the Finals. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Preview: Reunited Co-Champs, Title Streak Possibilities Headline Tennis Finals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 1, 2022
Many of the strongest contenders are familiar heading into this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals.
But intriguing storylines could make all four tournaments especially memorable for the teams playing to finish on top.
Ann Arbor Pioneer and Bloomfield Hills tied for the Division 1 title a year ago, and are expected to match up to decide this weekend’s championship. In Division 2, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern is favored to play for a third-straight championship, but with an old rival returning to the field. Finals winning streaks in Divisions 3 and 4 face perhaps their stiffest obstacles this time around as well-seeded Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Ann Arbor Greenhills look to start their own championship runs.
All four divisions again will be played over multiple locations. Division 1 will be played Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University, with the final rounds at K-College – and that tournament will begin Thursday and conclude Friday.
The other three divisions will follow the more traditional Friday/Saturday format. Division 2 will be played at Hope College and Holland Christian, finishing up at Hope. Division 3 will play at Midland Tennis Center and Midland High, with final rounds at MTC, and Division 4 will play early rounds at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Pioneer and Ann Arbor Greenhills high schools before concluding at U-M.
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 from the MHSAA Website.
LP Division 1 at Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Bloomfield Hills, 3. Troy.
Ann Arbor Pioneer: Last season’s championship was the program’s first since 2010, and the singles lineup that swept all four flight titles is back intact – junior Reese Miller (23-0) at No. 1, sophomore Elsie Van Wieren at No. 2, senior Mia Goldstein at No. 3 and sophomore Bridgette Kelly at No. 4 are all top seeds. All four doubles flights are seeded fourth or higher, led by second-seeded senior Ashley Capelli and junior Juliana Pullen at No. 1 and sophomore Mia Berens and freshman Natalie Guo at No. 2. Capelli and Pullen made the No. 1 doubles semifinals last season, while Berens was part of a semifinalist pairing at No. 2.
Bloomfield Hills: Last season’s title was the program’s first and came on the strength of three doubles flight championships and two singles runner-up finishes. The Black Hawks are seeded first at No. 1 doubles with seniors Danielle Herb and Carly Bernard, No. 2 with senior Noa Goldstein and junior Natalie Raab, and No. 3 with seniors Eryn Stern and Grace Bickersteth; and they are seeded second at No. 4 with junior Colleen Pettengill and senior Ellie Alberts. Goldstein (No. 1), Bernard (No. 2), Stern and Raab (No. 3) were part of champion pairs in 2021, with Bickersteth and Alberts the runner-up at No. 4. Bloomfield Hills also has three singles flights seeded third or higher; Julia Yousif was last season’s No. 4 runner-up and is seeded second at that flight, and Grace Shaya was runner-up at No. 3 last spring and is seeded second returning to her flight as well. Raegan Tomina, who won No. 2 doubles with Bernard last year, is the third seed at No. 2 singles this time.
Troy: The Colts are seeking their first Finals team championship since 2003 after tying for fourth last year. All four doubles flights are seeded, led by junior Vienna Thieu and sophomore Michelle Baik topping the No. 4 bracket and junior Varsha Penumalee and senior Prisha Akasapu the second seed at No. 3. Juniors Grace Zhu and Stephanie Ochoa are the third seed at No. 1 doubles after finishing runner-up at No. 2 last season, and sophomore Nika Tanako and senior Sophie Chong were the runners-up at No. 3 in 2021 and are seeded third at No. 2 this weekend. Two singles flights are seeded as well.
Sienna Osborne, Lake Orion sophomore: She enters as the fourth seed at No. 1 singles after going 1-1 as an unseeded entry a year ago. She’s 17-3 this spring, with her defeats to Pioneer’s Miller once and Nicole Fu (see below) twice.
Jenna Redmile, Salem sophomore: She’s the second seed at No. 1 singles after also entering last season’s bracket unseeded and reaching the quarterfinals. She’s 21-1 with her lone loss to Miller.
Nicole Fu, Rochester Adams freshman: The third seed at No. 1 as only a freshman is 17-3 with losses to Miller, Osborne and fifth-seeded Kavitha Gowda of Troy Athens.
LP Division 2 at Hope College and Holland Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3. Grosse Pointe South.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies have won two straight championships (last season and in 2019, with 2020 canceled due to COVID-19) and claimed last year’s title by a commanding 14 points while winning seven flights. Abigial Siminski (25-1) is the reigning champion at No. 1 singles and was runner-up in 2019, and she’s seeded second at that flight this weekend. All eight FHN flights are seeded, and six as second or first seeds. Senior Isabella Paul and sophomore Ryan Morey are the top-seeded No. 2 doubles pair, with seniors Tanishka Shenoy and Maya Echtinaw top seeds at No. 3 and junior Ava Hamilton and sophomore Paige McKenzie the top seeds at No. 4. Senior Sophie Richards and Rhea Marwaha are only third seeds at No. 1 doubles, but also the reigning champions at that flight. Morey was part of the 2021 champion at No. 2, and Shenoy and Echtinaw also are returning champions at their flight. Sophomore Nathalie Lanne is the second seed at No. 2 singles (after finishing runner-up at No. 4 last season), and freshman Andrea Wang is the top seed at No. 3.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples are back in Division 2 after finishing third in Division 1 a year ago, and they’re seeking to finish first again for the first time since 2018. All eight flights are seeded third or higher, led by top-seeded senior Lauren Whitall at No. 4 singles and junior Madeleine Leo and senior Nina Graham on the top line at No. 1 doubles. Senior Jane Wineman and junior Tatum Hirsch at No. 3 doubles, junior Sydney Fong and sophomore Jenna Tin at No. 4 and sophomore Courtney Marcum at No. 2 singles all are second seeds. Senior Sophie MacKinnon (13-4) is the third seed at No. 1 singles.
Grosse Pointe South: The Blue Devils also are back in Division 2 after a run through Division 1, where they tied for fourth last spring. Seven flights are seeded as they seek to add to their most recent championship in 2019 in Division 1, where they’ve won three team titles over the last nine seasons. Sophomore Maeve Hix and junior Megan Kommeier lead with a second seed at No. 2 doubles. Senior Moira Hix (21-6) is the fourth seed at No. 1 singles.
Emma Chrome, Mason senior: Playing in her first Finals since reaching the quarterfinals at No. 2 doubles as a freshman, Chrome is the fifth seed at No. 1 singles and undefeated at 20-0.
Lizzie Novak, Mattawan senior: She’s also undefeated at 12-0 after recovering from an early-season injury, and she’s the top seed at No. 1 singles with an April 21 win over Siminski. Novak was the No. 2 singles champion as a freshman in 2019 and played a USTA schedule instead last spring.
LP Division 3 at Midland Tennis Center and Midland High School
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. East Grand Rapids, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: There is a lot of notable recent history at this event for the Cranes. After winning five straight championships from 2011-15, they saw Detroit Country Day win the next five – while finishing runners-up the last three Finals (with no season in 2020). Seven of eight flights are top seeds with the eighth a second seed this weekend. Freshman Yenna Park (16-0) is the top seed at No. 1 singles, with reigning champion Charlotte Brown back as the top seed at No. 2. Sophomores Sienna Ilitch and Olivia Zhang are the top seeds at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively, after finishing as runners-up at those flights in 2021. Freshman Chloe Qin is teaming with senior Gaby Levine as the top seed at No. 1 doubles, with freshman Ava Clogg and sophomore Grace Zhang top-seeded at No. 3 and sophomores Daryn Krause and Kayli Lala top-seeded at No. 4. Krause and Lala were the No. 3 runners-up a year ago, and Zhang was part of the runner-up at No. 4 in 2021. Junior Morgan Dresner-Hagaman and freshman Chiarra Martella are second-seeded at No. 2.
East Grand Rapids: The Pioneers moved back into Division 3 after finishing fourth in Division 2 last season, and they most recently were champions in 2017 in Division 2. Seven flights are seeded, with five first or second seeds. Seniors Meg Simon and Ella Webb lead as the top-seeded pair at No. 2 doubles, with junior Ava Godlewski and sophomore Dana Goedken the second seeds at No. 3 and senior Kelly Couvrier and freshman Kate Simon second seeds at No. 4. Sophomore Sam Connor is the second seed at No. 3 singles, and freshman Sophia DeGuzman is the second seed at No. 4. Seniors Julia and Jennifer Ernst are third seeds at No. 1 doubles, but were second seeds at that flight in Division 2 last year as they reached the semifinals. Senior Allie Tol (19-4) might be the strongest five seed in any bracket this weekend, with her losses to FHN’s Siminski (twice), Park and Marian senior Gaby Gryzenia (see below).
Bloomfield Hills Marian: The Mustangs edged Country Day by a point to finish Regional runner-up to Cranbrook two weeks ago, and Marian was runner-up in Division 2 last season before moving back into Division 3 this year. The Mustangs’ most recent championship came in Division 2 in 2016, and they also were runners-up in 2018. All eight flights are seeded, with three seeded third or second. Gryzenia (13-4) leads the way as that second seed, at No. 1 singles, after reaching the quarterfinals at that flight in Division 2 last spring.
Sophia Grzesiak, Detroit Country Day freshman: She tops the lineup at No. 1 singles for the reigning five-time team champion, and enters her first Finals as the fourth seed in her flight. While only 7-8 this spring, she’s split matches with Gryzenia over the last month and taken losses from Park and Pioneer’s Miller.
Julia Gurne, Pontiac Notre Dame sophomore: The reigning No. 1 singles runner-up enters this time as the third seed with an 11-7 record but 10 wins over her last 12 matches.
LP Division 4 at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Pioneer and Ann Arbor Greenhills
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, 3. Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons are seeking their first Finals championship since 2017 and finished ninth last season. But the lineup has been boosted by six freshmen including the top three singles players – third-seeded Maddie Morgan (18-4) at No. 1 and top seeds Shangyang Xia at No. 2 and Sophie Chen at No. 3. Seniors Rukmini Nallamothu and Georgia Branch are top seeds at No. 1 doubles after they filled the top two singles flights last season, and senior Sabeen Malick and freshman Meera Tewari have the top line at No. 4. Sophomore Manassa Gollapalli is the second seed at No. 4 singles, with senior Lana Koualti and freshman Sophia Kleer second-seeded at No. 2 doubles and sophomore Parini Rao and freshman Meera Pandey second-seeded at No. 3.
Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart: The Gazelles own a three-season Finals winning streak and have claimed seven of the last nine Division 4 championships. Doubles are a traditional strength, and this year’s team is up to that high standard. Senior Marisa Nafso and sophomore Kayla Nafso are the second seed at No. 1 but also the reigning champion at that flight. Junior Jade Horcoff and senior Angelina Kakos are the top seed at No. 2, with Kakos part of last season’s No. 3 doubles champion. Sophomores Lulu George and Maggie Pulte are the top seeds at No. 3 after finishing runner-up last season at No. 2, and junior Katie Kelly and sophomore Jordan Rivenburgh are the second seeds at No. 4. Senior Isabelle Burg (9-8) is the fourth seed at No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 2 a year ago, and seven of her eight defeats are against top-four seeded players in the Division 3 and 4 brackets.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central: The Cougars are seeking their first top-two finish at a Finals in this sport, and most recently tied for sixth in Division 3 a year ago. They are seeded in six of eight flights, with three doubles pairs seeded fourth and junior Hannah Lourido the top seed at No. 4 singles.
Moorea McNalley, Clarkston Everest Collegiate senior: She looking to add to her No. 1 singles championships in 2019 and last season, and is seeded second this weekend with her only loss 6-1, 6-2, to top seed Maddy Zampardo (see below). She has two wins over Morgan and also defeated Notre Dame Prep’s Gurne.
Maddy Zampardo, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett junior: Playing in her first Finals, Zampardo is undefeated at 7-0 and the top seed at No. 1 singles with two wins over Burg, the win noted above over McNalley and another that stands out against Grosse Pointe South’s Hix.
PHOTO Ann Arbor Pioneer's Reese Miller returns a volley during her championship match at last season's LP Division 1 Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)