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.)
Performance: East Grand Rapids' Sloane Teske
April 21, 2017
Sloane Teske
East Grand Rapids sophomore – Tennis
Teske capped her first season of high school tennis a year ago by making the No. 1 singles semifinals at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals. And that success should be just the start; Teske is 8-0 this season and won No. 1 singles Saturday at the prestigious Allegan Invitational, coming back to down Detroit Country Day’s Monique Karoub in three sets in the flight final to help the Pioneers to a shared team title with the Yellowjackets – and earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Teske fell to Karoub – last season’s Division 3 champion at No. 2 singles – 6-1 in Saturday’s first set before coming back to win the second 6-0. Teske trailed again in the third set before coming back one more time to win 7-5 and clinch the match victory. The elite pair has faced each other before in United States Tennis Association play, and Karoub had won their most recent match.
Frequently, top high school tennis players focus solely on that sport. But Teske is far more than a tennis star: She also plays on East Grand Rapids' golf team and carries a 4.2 grade-point average. She’s a few years from figuring out her future academically, but enjoys her history and mathematics classes most. A team leader already as an underclassman, she’s hoping to lead the Pioneers to their first MHSAA Finals title since 2009 after they finished runners-up to Bloomfield Hills Marian in 2016. East Grand Rapids currently is ranked No. 1 in Division 2.
Coach Mickey Mikesell said: “We’ve had Mr. Tennis go through here, other kids at the highest level. But one thing about Sloane – the biggest thing, is she’s a natural-born leader. She came in as a freshman, and in some ways took over the team. She played a lot of basketball growing up. Basketball, volleyball, those sports there’s a lot of yelling going on, and she’s like that – even as a freshman, she’s yelling at (her teammates) motivating them, cheering them on, and you rarely see that as a freshman. She has tremendous talent in her game; it’s fantastic, and it’s great having a player like that on a team to keep the team energized. Even when we do team dinners, like before Regionals (last year), she asked me, ‘Can I speak in front of the team?’ Rarely do I have kids do that at any age. … It’s just a good combination. She’s headstrong, she has lots of power, and the biggest thing with her is she’s so competitive, so feisty out there. That fire inside of her … she has a great chance to do something individually every year, but she wants us to win as a team, and that’s a good mix to have as a coach.”
Performance Point: “That day was a very tough day, specifically the conditions we were playing in – it was super windy outside,” Teske said of the Allegan tournament. “Multiple times the wind would be blowing from every direction. It was kinda funny some points, but also frustrating. You’d try to get the ball to go a certain direction, and most of the time it would go somewhere completely different. I was just trying to be very focused. I was aware of how close things were. … I knew it was going to be a tough match going against DCD. I kept the ball in play, tried to be super consistent, and when I saw the opportunity to go hit a winner and end the point, I did. My coaches were my biggest help; after the first set, they helped me to get my mind right and get ready for the next set. … They told me to just clear everything out, block everything out and get back my game and focus. After the match, I was still shocked – I couldn’t believe I came back and won that second set.”
Year older and wiser: “I’ve learned to just keep my cool and composure, just learned to take one match at a time … stay in the moment. It’s kinda tough. It’s hard not to worry about your next match, who you’re going to play, how you’re going to play. When I’m playing, I just block everything out, everyone out, and just focus on what’s in front of me.”
Head in the game: “The strongest part of my game, I just know how to think differently than my opponent. I work points to my favor – I will attack the backhand, and when they think I’m going to their backhand, I’ll go down the line to the forehand and they aren’t expecting that. It’s a fun way to play.”
Tee it up: “I just try to balance my schedule (with tennis and golf), especially during the summer. My parents help me out, trying to make sure I have everything. (Golf) is a break, sometimes for me, to take a break from tennis. And I come back (to tennis) stronger every time.”
It’s about team: “High school is a lot different (than USTA) … you always have your teammate’s back, you cheer for each other and help each other during matches. It’s really a fun thing – it’s different than going out there to be by yourself. … I love the feeling of winning, especially when I can do that with my team too.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
March 30: Romeo Weems, New Haven basketball – Read
March 23: Jaycie Burger and Maddie Clark, Pittsford basketball – Read
March 16: Camden Murphy, Novi swimming & diving – Read
March 9: Ben Freeman, Walled Lake Central wrestling – Read
March 2: Joey Mangner, Chelsea swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 23: Isabelle Nguyen, Grosse Pointe North gymnastics – Read
Feb. 16: Dakota Hurbis, Saline swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 2: Foster Loyer, Clarkston basketball – Read
Jan. 26: Nick Jenkins, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling – Read
Jan. 19: Eileene Naniseni, Mancelona basketball – Read
Jan. 12: Rory Anderson, Calumet hockey – Read
Dec. 15: Demetri Martin, Big Rapids basketball – Read
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Sloane Teske returns a volley during last season's Division 2 semifinal match against Mason's Olivia Hanover. (Middle) Teske serves while playing No. 1 singles for East Grand Rapids. (Top photo by HighSchoolSportsScene.com, middle photo courtesy of the East Grand Rapids athletic department.)