Westwood Runs Title Streak to 5
October 2, 2013
By Craig Remsburg
Special to Second Half
ISHPEMING — His team has now won five straight MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 championships. But coach Chris Jackson isn’t about to call his Ishpeming Westwood High School girls tennis program a dynasty.
“We just have good player participation,” he said after his Patriots totaled 14 points to beat runner-up Iron Mountain by one Wednesday. “This is the biggest ‘team’ victory out of all of them, though.”
West Iron County placed third with 10 points followed by Ishpeming (7), Ironwood (6), Munising (4) and Gwinn (1).
“I’m just drained,” Jackson said. “This was the most tense finals out of all of them.”
Westwood’s No. 3 doubles team of Lacey Pietro and Olivia Derocher, its No. 4 doubles tandem of Emily Carlson and Jamee Ferris, and Rachel Anderson at No. 4 singles all won titles.
Jackson said his No. 4 doubles unit, which rallied to knock off Hannah Hakamaki and Grace Hansen of Iron Mountain by a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 count, was a key to the win.
“They were our last group on the court. If they win, we win by one point,” he said. “They were down 5-2 in the second set and won 7-5, In one stretch, they won 10 of 11 games.”
Anderson added a No. 4 singles crown to her resume after winning at No. 4 doubles last season.
“At first, I was shaky,” she said of her 6-3, 6-0 win over Jessie Prudhomme of West Iron. “But after a few games, I got into my rhythm.
“It was great to be a No. 4 doubles champ, but this one is better because I did it on my own.”
Jackson said his team’s victory came from other factors as well.
“Our No. 3 doubles are both seniors and got our finals started,” Jackson said. “It was our first finals win (of the day).
“Megan Chapman got into the semis and got us a point, and Caitlin Hewitt (at No. 2 doubles with Gabby Hebert) picked up points playing with a leg injury. Caitlin had been playing No. 1 singles until her injury three weeks ago. She was able to contribute at No. 2 doubles, and it’s a case of a senior sacrificing for the better of the team.”
Iron Mountain claimed wins at No. 1 singles with Katie Brule, No. 2 singles with Olivia Truscott and No. 2 doubles with twins Katie and Emily Bugni.
“It was a very hard match,” Brule said of her 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Ironwood’s Katie Piispanen. “She hit the ball well, placed it well and made me run. But my overheads were good and so were my serves.
“I stayed consistent in the tiebreaker and didn’t get frustrated. I felt better about things after winning that.” she added, noting she won a U.P. title at No. 2 singles in 2012.
Truscott, meanwhile, beat Jaime Olson of Ishpeming, 6-0, 6-4.
“My ball placement was good, my serves were ‘on’ today and I came to the net a lot,” Truscott said. “(Olson) hits everything back to you and my approach shots had to be good. I just had to attack.
“In the second set,” Truscott added, “I had to slow it down and just try to get my shots in.”
Said Iron Mountain coach Greg Stegall: “Olivia’s a sophomore with a good work ethic. She’s a competitor.”
The Mountaineers’ Bugni sisters, who won a peninsula crown at No. 3 doubles last season, knocked off Westwood’s Hebert and Hewitt, 6-1, 6-3.
“We had to get each other’s confidence up. Those (Westwood) girls are good,” said Emily, 45 minutes older than her twin.
Added Kate: “We hit the ball well, and communicated well. I was also good at the net.”
Iron Mountain placed second to Westwood last year by two points.
“It seems to be our scenario: we come up one match short of making everyone happy,” Stegall said. “It’s disappointing to come up one point short.
“But I have a good group of sophomores — five are coming back. It’s a pleasure to work with them.”
Ironwood’s Rachel Pallin and Danielle Begalle defeated Adelle Gendron and Alex Paquette of Munising, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 1 doubles.
“We had to fight for it,” Begalle said. “This was only our second time playing together.
Added Pallin: “We took our time and placed our shots well. We weren’t rushing.
“What a way to end our senior year. This was (coach Annette Burchell’s) first time with a flight winner in the U.P. Finals (in her 10 years of coaching).”
Click for full championship match results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Westwood's Rachel Anderson returns the ball to her West Iron County opponent during their championship match. (Middle) Iron Mountain’s Katie Brule runs to return the ball to her Ironwood opponent during a championship match of the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Wednesday. (Photos by Adelle Whitefoot for Second Half.)
Sacred Heart Sends Coach Out as Champ
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2019
KALAMAZOO — By the end of play Friday, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart had already repeated as the Lower Peninsula Division 4 team champion, but don't ask any of the girls how that felt.
The coaches did not mention it until Saturday at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.
“We didn’t find out until just now,” No. 1 doubles champ Annie Keating said after her Saturday final. “We assumed, but no one really knew. We just went out and played our best.”
Sacred Heart, with the top seeds in every doubles flight, swept those four. But the match of the tournament was the No. 1 singles final.
Freshman Moorea McNalley, the second seed from Clarkston Everest Collegiate, rallied to defeat top-seeded Melanie Zampardo, a Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett junior, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(3).
The barnburner was the last match on the court, with the crowd inside the Markin Racquet Center sending deafening cheers after each point, especially during the third set.
“We played during the regular season, and she beat me both times,” McNalley said. “Today, I just tried to get everything back and not get mad.
“Last time, I was getting upset at myself, so I was trying not to do that this time and just keep playing.”
Playing in her first MHSAA tournament, “I had no clue if it was going to be good or bad,” she said. “It was good, definitely.
“Since it’s my last match of the season, I was giving it my all.”
With the doubles semifinals played on Friday because of the projected rain the next day, Sacred Heart’s four semis points clinched the title. They ended with 31 points, eight more than runner-up Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
“We knew (Friday) we couldn’t catch Sacred Heart but the kids have been motivated all year, so there was no problem getting them motivated to play,” St. Mary coach Wayne Asher said.
“Grosse Ile was right there with us, and there were a couple other schools not too far away also.”
Grosse Ile, which moved from Division 3 this year, finished third with 21 points, North Muskegon (17) was fourth and Everest (16) fifth.
Sacred Heart’s sixth title in eight seasons is bittersweet for coach Judy Hehs, who is leaving the school at the end of the year.
Hehs has coached the girls since the 1996-97 season.
“In their hearts they decided in March they were going to win a state championship,” Hehs said. “We had several kids make sacrifices about where they played, with whom they played, in order to get here.
“They, as a team, made that decision to work to that goal.”
Each doubles team had at least one past Finals champ in the pairing to mentor the younger players, Hehs said.
Keating, a junior, said losing their coach gave she and her teammates motivation.
“She’s the best coach we’ve ever had,” she said. “We really wanted to win this one for her. That was our motivation.”
Keating and sophomore Reagan Beatty defeated North Muskegon seniors Belles Hardman and Lily Montgomery, the second seeds, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.
Beatty won the title at No. 3 singles last year but wanted to play doubles with Keating, her cousin.
“The biggest adjustment was mostly working with a partner and it was nice having my cousin, which was amazing,” Beatty said.
“But I also think it was difficult because you have a little bit of pressure, saying I don’t want to let my partner down. But it also has its upsides because you have a partner if you’re not doing well.”
Playing with her cousin has advantages.
“We can communicate with each other without having to talk,” Beatty said. “We just look at each other, and we know.”
At. No. 2 doubles, senior Nolwenn Crosnier and freshman Marisa Nafso defeated second seeds, senior Katy Zink and freshman Katherine Kemp of Royal Oak Shrine Catholic, 6-2, 6-1.
It was the second No. 2 doubles title for Crosnier.
“It feels good, but it’s also nerve-wracking because there are high expectations,” she said. “We really wanted the title.”
Nafso was happy for the mentoring.
“I have a lot of nerves so she calms me down a lot,” Nafso said of her partner. “When we’re on the court, we really like to laugh and smile and be friends with our opponents.
“We’ve been spending every single day together trying to prepare for states.”
The friendliness extended to the final.
“I was surprised at No. 2 doubles,” Hehs said. “They spent more time at the net at the end of the match, where we wanted to congratulate them.
“They were enjoying the company of their opponents, discovering where they were going to college and stuff like that.”
Junior Kate Myers and senior Serena Seneker won the title at No. 3 doubles, and senior Catherine Blumberg and junior Hannah Kakos won at No. 4.
At No. 2 singles, Grosse Ile junior Jessica Schutt, the top seed, defeated Shrine’s unseeded senior, Ann Gladstone, 6-1, 6-1.
Gladstone stunned No. 2 seed, Sarah Schmidt of Clarkston Everest Collegiate, 6-4, 6-3, then dispatched No. 6-seeded Claire McCall of North Muskegon, 6-3, 7-6(6)
“I played (Gladstone) at Regional, and then hearing about her big upset I was like she must have improved a lot in the last couple weeks,” Schutt said. “I was really nervous.
“I was just hitting it deep, keeping at it, not letting her in.”
Gladstone said she ended her senior season “just playing my heart out.
“It’s my last year, and I just wanted to give it my all and just battle. My coach said, ‘Imagine, believe, achieve’ and I just used that.”
The senior said she had a mental adjustment after Regionals.
“I was a very timid player and I would just try to get the ball back, and now I was more on the offensive and just hit my shots,” she said.
At No. 3 singles, St. Mary senior Taylor Kennedy, the top seed, defeated second seed Madelyn Vitu, a junior from Everest Collegiate, 6-1, 6-3.
After losing in the final at No. 3 last year, “I learned to stay steady and always be consistent and don’t try to hit a hard shot and always just stay steady because that’s how you win points,” Kennedy said.
“I learned not to get in my own head. Last year, I would always get mad at myself and get down, but this year I learned just to get the ball in and do my thing and play my game.”
At No. 4 singles, second seed Jenna Sheets, a Grosse Ile senior, defeated St. Mary junior Hannah Hodgson, the top seed, 7-5, 6-1.
Despite being tucked back on Court 4 at the Markin Center, the farthest from the bleachers, Sheets said she had no problem hearing the crowd.
“I think I have a pretty good mental game, but (the crowd) just helps you think about what the reward is if you get through it,” she said.
It was especially rewarding for the senior Saturday.
“In past years, I never made it past the quarterfinals,” she said.
“My mental game has improved. I’m a very relaxed player and never get mad at myself, so I think that’s definitely my strongest thing.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart’s Isabelle Burg lines up to return a volley during a Friday match at No. 2 singles. (Middle) Clarkston Everest Collegiate’s Moorea McNalley prepares to serve on the way to winning the No. 1 singles title this weekend. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)