MIDLAND — For Ann Arbor Pioneer sophomore Grant Miller, it was the culmination of a two-month process where he was able to trust his tennis game again. 

Miller said he didn’t have his best summer on the junior circuit, and that carried over a bit to the start of the season in August when he admitted that his confidence “was a little bit low.”

Entering the second and final day of the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals on Friday, the objective was simple. 

“I’ve spent the last 2½ months really working on my game,” Miller said. “Now is the time to trust it. Now is the time to not worry about anything. I’ve got to go and I’ve got to trust all the work I put in.”

Miller did exactly that, ultimately riding that trust and work into an individual championship at No. 1 singles. 

The runner-up last year as a freshman, Miller took the next step, prevailing 6-1, 6-1 over senior Aarav Shah of Salem in the championship match at Midland Tennis Center.

Miller lost to Shah back in August when he was still rounding into form, but that turned out to be his only defeat this season. Miller also defeated Shah at last week’s Regional tournament. 

The top seed going in, Miller also earned a 6-1, 6-0 win over Dheeraj Yelleti of Troy in a semifinal. 

In particular, Miller said honing and trusting his forehand really paid off as the season went on.

“That was the biggest thing for me, just building that trust and confidence in my game,” Miller said. “That keeps me more mentally stable, knowing I have that trust, so I’m able to kind of stay more steady instead of going so up and down throughout the match.”

Team-wise, it came as little surprise that Troy repeated as champion. 

The Colts earned 29 points, well ahead of runner-up Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (20) and third-place Pioneer (19). 

Troy rode its strong doubles teams, prevailing in three of the four doubles flights. 

The team of junior Sourish Daruri and senior Jesse Hao won at No. 1 doubles, the tandem of juniors Jyottiraditya Kashyap and Siddarth Manikandan triumphed at No. 2 doubles and the pairing of sophomore Vivaan Shan and junior Stas Barodka won at No. 4 doubles. 

“It’s just honestly one of those years where a lot of teams put their best players in singles,” Troy head coach Brian Miska said. “Some years they put their best players in doubles, some years they put them in singles. So this year, the singles draws were just tough. A lot tougher than last year.” 

Even worse for the rest of the field is Troy should be back for more, given it had just two seniors on the roster.

“I had seven new starters this year from last year’s championship team,” Miska said. “We have only two seniors. That was our fear, to see how they kind of would respond under pressure. Give these kids credit. They really did. They worked so hard on their game.”

Clarkston had a pair of individual winners, sophomore Evan Geisz at No. 2 singles and freshman Athan Brozovich at No. 4 singles. 

Ann Arbor Skyline freshman Marc Mocanu captured the title at No. 3 singles. The No. 3 doubles title was claimed by the Brother Rice pair of junior Dylan Fisher and sophomore Sam Dimerman. 

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PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Grant Miller prepares to smash a forehand during Friday’s final rounds at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Troy’s Siddarth Manikandan sends back a powerful volley during a No. 2 doubles match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)