Perfect Ending to Sienko's Story

November 1, 2012

B y Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

If Michael Sienko could re-play the last three years of his school tennis career, he’d hope for them to play out the same way.  

That would mean experiencing again the disappointment of falling in two straight MHSAA championship matches. But those moments of frustration would be more than worth reliving this season, which ended two weeks ago with the Division 4 championship at No. 1 singles.

“Winning my last match is not something a lot of guys can say, and I think it’s cool that I lost twice in the state finals and ended up winning it. It’s a good story,” Sienko said. “It taught me lessons about not giving up and just working hard to accomplish my goals, and that’s what I did.”

In fact, Sienko didn’t lose a high school match in 2012. The Williamston senior gets a Second Half High 5 after finishing 28-0 this fall to run his career record to 102-8. The championship actually was Sienko’s second – he also won the Division 4 title at No. 2 singles as a freshman.

But much has changed since Sienko joined the Hornets varsity in 2009, playing the second position behind his older brother Peter, who finished MHSAA runner-up that season.

Michael was a slight 5-foot-3 then, before hitting a growth spurt at the end of his freshman year that helped him get to 5-10.

But he still had growing to do to set up this perfect season.

Sienko’s league, the Capital Area Activities Conference White, has produced the last three Division 4 champions at No. 1 singles. In 2010, Sienko lost to then-junior Paul Heeder of Lansing Catholic, 6-4, 6-2, after advancing to the final by beating the No. 1 seed. But Sienko entered last season’s Finals as the top seed and beat Heeder in a semifinal match – before then falling to second-seeded Chance Conley of Portland, 6-4, 6-2 again.

Heeder graduated in the spring, but Conley also is a senior this fall. That meant the two of them could meet at least four times – including a rematch in the Final at Kalamazoo College.

Fueled by the 2011 loss, Sienko got to work. He played more during the offseason and did more conditioning. He also hit the weight room – “It’s not like I was benching 250 or something, like the football guys, one, two, three and drop the weight,” he said – and focused on high-rep workouts that added explosiveness and velocity to his shots.

He also did some mental training, with the help of his older brother. Peter Sienko plays for Army, and texted Michael frequently before matches, mostly to help build his brother’s confidence. “Tennis, a lot of it is mental,” Michael said. “It’s confidence. If you’re not getting down on yourself, chances are you’re going to win. If you’re down on yourself, there’s really no help for you.”

Sienko did indeed see Conley in their final high school match. And this time, Sienko came out on top 6-1, 6-0.

“Michael had a goal all season to win states, and he worked very hard to achieve it,” Williamston coach Jenny Nalepa said. “He has a great attitude on and off the court and set an example for all the other players on the team.”

Williamston ended up 11th as a team at the Division 4 Final, and Sienko helping his teammates was a big part of his final season. He’ll get the chance to play at the collegiate level – his favorites are Army and Air Force – but this fall was about team, and when the Hornets lost, he was disappointed too although he’d won his point. He enjoys leading and fell into that position easily as a senior.

That’s how he’d like to be remembered, as much for his perfect season and his two championships.

“I gave 100 percent every time I played, and I definitely tried to play for Williamston and not myself,” Sienko said. “Because that’s the bigger picture.”

PHOTO: Williamston's Michael Sienko returns a volleyball during the MHSAA Division 4 Final at Kalamazoo College. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).

Cranbrook Kingswood Wins 6 Flights to Regain LPD3 Championship Reign

By Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com

October 22, 2023

KALAMAZOO – By winning six of the eight flights, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood can once again call itself the Michigan Lower Peninsula Division 3 boys tennis champion.

One year after relinquishing its title to Ann Arbor Greenhills, Cranbrook totaled 37 points to finish first Saturday in completing the two-day tournament at Kalamazoo College.

Detroit Country Day took the runner-up honor with 28 followed by East Grand Rapids (20), Holland Christian (17) and St. Joseph (15) to round out the top five.

The top-ranked Cranes earned titles at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 singles and won three of the four doubles flights to clinch their second team championship in three seasons.

"Last year's Finals came down to the wire, and Greenhills ended up getting us by a point. That was an absolute gut-wrencher,” said Cranbrook head coach Steve Herdoiza. “All the flights we lost last year were ones we came back and won this time. I'm really proud of our boys. All of them found a way to play their best tennis on the last day of the season when it mattered the most."

After Friday's matches were suspended around midnight, play resumed at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with No. 3 and No. 4 singles at the Portage YMCA and a few doubles matches at Stowe Stadium on the K-College campus.

Rain, however, chased all those flights playing outdoors back inside shortly after to the Markin Racquet Center for the remainder of the day.

Play in all four singles flights picked up again Saturday in the quarterfinal round.  

Top-seeded Saahitth Reddy, Detroit Country Day's junior and No. 1 singles player, outlasted Cranbrook junior Ryan Michaels 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the finals.

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett tennisThe match fell just a few minutes short of taking three hours to complete.

Reddy also defeated Michaels in straight sets in a regular-season dual between the two schools this fall.

Cranbrook won that match with Country Day 5-3.

There were moments in Saturday's match when it looked like Michaels would best Reddy this time around.

"Saahitth is a such a great player. You do what you can to win, and sometimes it just doesn't work out for you," Michaels said.

Michaels held a 4-1 lead at one point during the second set.

"I should've won that set comfortably. We were holding serve and then I broke to love. A real turning point for him in the third was when he broke me and then he had serve after going up 4-3," Michaels added.

Reddy said it was the emotional support of his teammates during the match that carried him through.

"I just didn't want to give up. When my teammates started cheering me on, I kind've got emotional and that usually helps me. My forehand and down-the-line shots are my biggest weapons. (Michaels) was playing really well in that third set, so I just had to stick it out," Reddy said.

Herdoiza commended Michaels for his effort.

"The heart and tenacity that he showed is Ryan in a nutshell. You are never going to find an ounce of effort missing from that young man's game. It's all just will power and desire," Herdoiza said.

Cranbrook senior Caden Che defeated top-seeded Dan Marin from Country Day 6-4, 6-4, at No. 2.

Top-seeded Jace Bernard from Cranbrook lived up to his pre-tournament seed with a 6-3, 6-4, win over East Grand Rapids' Mikey Beusse in the No. 3 finale. 

No. 1 seeded junior Amaan Khan from Cranbrook downed St. Joseph freshman Eeshaan Ale 6-2, 6-1 in the final at No. 4 singles.

Herdoiza also praised Khan's performance.

"I haven't seen Amaan's stats or anything yet, but he might've had one of the more dominant seasons. He wasn't just winning matches, but in some of those he was giving up only 10 points or less. That's real dominance," Herdoiza said.

Devin Kozal and Jace Konwinski from Ada Forest Hills Eastern defeated Country Day's No. 1 doubles unit of Achyut Reddy and Charlie Khaghany 6-3, 6-3.

"Country Day had good ground strokes and are kind've shifty, but Devin and I stuck together and got it done," Konwinski said.

Kozal and Konwinksi, who are cousins and live next door to one another, controlled the net throughout the match.

"We do drills in practice where our No. 1 and No. 2 singles players hit with us, and that really helps us prepare for matches like these," Kozal said.

Cranbrook sophomores Cole Kirschenbaum and Kenneth Hu pulled off a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 finals win over East Grand Rapids' No. 2 tandem of Charlie Lentz and Luke Lentz. The Cranes' No. 3 doubles unit of freshman Ryan VanDyke and senior Ben Stevenson were champions at No. 3 doubles. Stevenson and VanDyke were victorious over Country Day's Thomas Bresson and John McKany 6-1, 6-3.

"In the first set we played very smart by getting to short balls, the net and by finishing off points," Stevenson said.

VanDyke felt it was him and Stevenson's aggression from the onset of the match that was the difference.

"I thought we attacked early and asserted our dominance at the net," VanDyke said.

Cranbrook seniors Ketan Swami and Kevin Guo defeated Joe Mulder and Tommy Rosmarin from East Grand Rapids 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 doubles.

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