'All Joy, No Fear' Greenhills Celebrates 3rd Girls Tennis Finals Victory
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2022
ANN ARBOR — Ann Arbor Greenhills girls tennis coach Mark Randolph had an interesting comparison after the Gryphons won their third Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals title Saturday.
“The way I put it, I’ve been gestating this team for four years,” he said. “I’ve not slept a lot the past couple of months, because I knew what we could do, but we had a couple kids come down with COVID, we had a broken foot, a rolled ankle. We had a kid who had a upset tummy. There’s always something, and every team has the same thing. So the job of a coach is to turn variables into constants.”
That he did. Greenhills had six flights reach Saturday’s finals at University of Michigan, four of them finishing as champions, on a team that had a near-total turnover in its singles lineup in 2022. Among the changes: Last year’s top singles players, seniors Georgie Branch and Rukmini Nallamothu, moved to No. 1 doubles.
They were champions in their flight this weekend, as were Shangyang Xia (No. 2 singles), Sophie Chen (No. 3 singles) and the No. 4 doubles team of Sabeen Malick and Meera Tewari.
The Gryphons, whose previous titles came in 2009 and 2017, ended the reign of Bloomfield Hills Academy of Sacred Heart, which had won three Division 4 crowns in a row and seven of the previous nine. Greenhills finished with 35 points, compared to 26 for Sacred Heart and 18 for third-place Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
One key for the Gryphons was a simple slogan Randolph used as a mantra: “All joy, no fear.”
“We kept saying it out loud,” Branch said. “It kept running through my brain while I was playing my final match. “All joy, no fear,” and I played like that.
But the Gryphons displayed no small amount of mental toughness.
Randolph said the team of Branch and Nallamothu epitomized the Gryphons’ grit in the final, defeating the Sacred Heart team of Marisa Nafso and Kayla Nafso in their third meeting of the season.
"We had a couple of matches where we were way down, or a two-point match and we fought back against good teams, and we got a lot of character points,“ Randolph said. "So we’re really, really proud of the way the kids fought.”
But the camaraderie the Gryphons enjoyed as a team also played a role.
"I felt like I reconnected with tennis in a different way,” said freshman Maddie Morgan, who reached the semifinals at No. 1 singles. "In USTA, it’s very competitive. The vibe isn’t as welcoming as high school season is. So I regained the ability to love playing tennis, and I really looked forward to the matches.”
Branch and Nallamothu, who last season played No. 2 and No. 1 singles, respectively, embraced both their new roles on the court and as team captains guiding a group with six freshmen.
"I did not enjoy playing singles,” Branch said. "It was so lonely, and this year to come out and play with my best friend and play 1 doubles together was like more than I ever could have wanted.
"All these freshmen who came in didn’t know that to expect,” Branch continued, "and we got to shape the team how we wanted it. We got to create the vibe we wanted and got to decide how we wanted it to go and how they can take it forward for next year."
The duo will be able to watch from a good vantage point: Both will attend nearby U-M next year.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s Maddy Zampardo, a junior, defeated two-time champion Moorea McNalley of Clarkston Everest Collegiate 6-0, 6-4 to win No. 1 singles.
Zampardo enjoyed her first year of high school tennis.
"It was really cool because typically I don’t have a team when I play tennis,” she said, "so it was really nice to have a team supporting me and me supporting them. It was just a lot a fun and a cool experience to represent my high school.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Greenhills celebrates its third Finals team championship Saturday at U-M. (Middle) An Academy of the Sacred Heart doubles team receives a volley. (Below) Greenhills serves during a doubles match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
As Adams' Fu Closes Career On Top, Northville May Be Starting Championship Era
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2025
BYRON CENTER – The fourth time turned out to be the charm for Rochester Adams senior Nicole Fu at Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Tennis Finals.
She entered this weekend’s tournament having finished No. 1 singles runner-up all of her first three seasons of high school, including a year ago with a loss to Utica Eisenhower’s Gabby Sadowski in the deciding match.
But given another chance and a rematch with Sadowski, Fu wasn’t going to be denied.
Fu, who will play collegiately for the U.S. Naval Academy, ended her high school career on top with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Sadowski.
“I think over the last three years, I’ve matured a lot as a player,” Fu said. “Freshman year, I was more of an underdog. The last two years, I was a favorite. I’ve learned how to manage the pressure this season, and it was really helpful coming into states to just trust my shots, trust my game and stick to my gameplan.”
Fu obviously had familiarity with Sadowski having played her before, including three weeks ago when Fu won in two sets. She said the biggest keys this time were staying on the baseline, not letting Sadowski dictate play and simply going for it on each shot.
“I didn’t want to finish the match, then look back, see I was nervous and then have any regrets,” Fu said. “I just wanted to come in, play as freely as possible and go for my shots. Being aggressive for sure was the game plan.”
Fu advanced to the final via a 6-1, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Aarna Betala of Portage Central and a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 semifinal victory over Isabella Barretto of Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, who handed Fu her only defeat this season April 22.
Saturday’s team championship came down to the very last points, and a young Northville lineup including five sophomores capitalized.
The Mustangs captured their first Finals team title since 2018 with 23 points, just one more than Eisenhower – which was runner-up last year too and aiming for its first title in school history as well.
“We thought all along at the beginning the season that we were special,” Northville head coach Brenda Lionas said. “We started believing it and coming together as a young team. We called it a reload. We just started working together and getting them to believe how special they were.”
Northville won on the strength of its doubles, which produced two champions and a runner-up. Sravya Doppalapudi and Francine Ong won at No. 3 doubles despite entering seeded fifth, while Emma Murphy and Sophie Ong won at No. 4 while seeded fourth. Murphy and Ong defeated the top-seeded Adams pair of Joanna Ouyang and Monika Camaj in their semifinal.
Northville’s Lucia Lachapelle and Aadya Pullalarevu advanced to the championship match at No. 2 doubles but lost to Eisenhower’s Alexis Gabriel and Alayna Aamodt. Northville also saw Emmi Dober earn points by advancing to the final at No. 3 singles before losing to Arella He of Ann Arbor Pioneer.
“We talked about staying in every point,” Lionas said. “Staying in, staying in, and staying in, being patient and working the points as long as we could in both singles and doubles.”
Eisenhower freshman Morgan Emerick won the title at No. 2 singles, while Novi junior Rebecca Liu won at No. 4 singles. Rockford’s Alayna Gee and Avery Marchlewski won the championship at No. 1 doubles.
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Adams' Nicole Fu returns a volley during her No. 1 singles championship match Saturday at Byron Center West Sports Complex. (Middle) Northville celebrates during its march to the team championship. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)