Doubles Dominate, Freshman Clinches for Sacred Heart
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2013
KALAMAZOO — They swept the doubles championships.
But it was freshman Tate Lehmann – the top seed at No. 4 singles – who clinched the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 team title for Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart on Saturday at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.
Lehmann defeated third-seeded Lauren Hansen, a senior from Traverse City St. Francis, 7-6 (2), 6-4, in the nail-biting final, giving Sacred Heart back-to-back titles.
Going neck-and-neck with Grosse Ile, and with their final two matches still on the court, Sacred Heart co-coach Jim Slaughter said he knew his team needed one more point to clinch the title.
”We were hoping of the two we had out there, one would pull out a win,” the ecstatic coach said. “It is a lot of pressure. When (Lehmann) walked off, I told her it was the clinching match, and she lit up; she was surprised.”
Slaughter said the top-seeded No. 4 doubles team of senior Elia Wilson and freshman Gretchen Lemon hoped they wouldn’t be the deciding match: “Too much pressure,” he said.
The coach said he figured it would come down to Sacred Heart and Grosse Ile.
“Grosse Ile was right on our tail,” Slaughter said. “They were tied going into the last two matches. They’re a solid team. I think we knew it would probably come down to the two of us, just the way the seeds had fallen and by the regular season.”
Lehmann was getting her first taste of an MHSAA Finals tournament.
“It was really exciting,” she said. “I’ve never been to a tournament like this, but it was really exciting and fun. I just stayed consistent, and that helped a lot. It was really a good feeling.”
Sacred Heart finished with 29 points and Grosse Ile with 26. St. Francis was third with 17 points.
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central senior Meika Ashby, the top seed, defeated second-seeded Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard junior Colleen O’Brien, 6-2, 6-1, to win the No. 1 singles title.
Ashby, headed to Western Michigan University in the fall, won the No. 2 singles title as a freshman and No. 1 as a sophomore. Last year, she lost to Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Kasey Gardiner in the No. 1 final, one of just two matches she’s lost in her four-year career. The other was this year to University of Michigan-bound Sara Remynse, a Richland Gull Lake senior who lost in the Division 2 final Saturday.
“This was a tough match,” Ashby said of Saturday’s final. “Colleen is a great player. She’s a tough player. I went out there with the mindset that it was going to be a tough match, and it was.”
After dropping just one game in the tournament, Ashby lost on O’Brien’s first two services before finding her groove.
“I started out trying to play my normal game,” Ashby said. “I like to be an aggressive baseliner, but I had to take a lot of pace off the ball and change it up, trying to move her around the court.”
O’Brien, who won the No. 2 singles title last year, said it’s a big jump to No. 1.
“”The girls definitely hit harder,” she said. “They want it more and they know how to compete, for sure. It’s definitely tougher.
“I learned I’ve just gotta keep on fighting and never give up. It’s a battle out there, and you’ve just gotta keep believing you can win.”
Said Gabriel Richard coach Jim Sayed: “Colleen ran up against a better player today. It was a nice match all around. (Ashby) has incredible ground strokes, and there’s not many people who hit the ball like she does. It’s really tough to keep up with the pace of her ground strokes.”
Ashby’s game isn’t the only thing that caught the attention of WMU women’s coach Betsy Kuhle, who was in the stands watching her recruit on Saturday.
“Mostly it’s Meika’s attitude and work ethic that make her what she is,” Kuhle said. “She plays every point very bright. She has a game plan and she knows how to execute it.”
Hackett coach Aaron Conroy said the key is Ashby’s diverse game.
“She has a well-rounded game, big ground strokes,” he said. “Even more so, I’m really proud of Meika for the sportsmanship that she shows on the court.”
After a grueling, three-hour, three-set semifinal win, Grosse Ile sophomore Brianna Riley, the second seed, defeated Gabriel Richard senior Anjali Sood, the top seed, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. Theirs was the final match on the courts.
“They gave me a break (after the semis),” Riley said. “I was so thankful for it. I never expected this was gonna happen. I rested, I ate a little bit, I drank a lot of water and sought some shade.”
She said playing a senior in the final was a bit intimidating.
“They have all the experience, all the years, all the matches, all the sets,” Riley said. “I didn’t have that. It was a pleasant surprise. I was just mentally trying to stay focused, making each shot. Staying consistent was the most important thing for me today.”
In spite of the loss, Sood said, “It’s been an amazing senior year. I’m glad how far I made it.
“(Riley) is a very consistent player. I tried, but she was very good. (Between the semi and final), you try to mentally prepare for the match, get up and get your feet moving and stay calm and focused.”
For the first time, Grosse Ile was playing in Division 4.
“I think we were the smallest Division 3 school, and now we’re the largest Division 4,” coach John Shade said. “It’s new competition.
“We heard that (Sacred Heart’s) doubles were good, and they certainly were. We didn’t get a chance to play during the season. There were some good matches. We were just a little bit behind.”
Gabriel Richard tied for fourth with Kalamazoo Christian, each with 16 points.
“This was an outstanding effort from everybody on the team,” Gabriel Richard’s Sayed said. “We’re really happy with the results we’ve had. It was a fantastic effort all around.”
Kalamazoo Christian’s top seed, freshman Audrey Bouma at No. 3 singles, matched her sister, Jessica Bouma, who also won the No. 3 singles title two years ago as a freshman.
“(Jessica) just told me to stay confident and play as hard as I can; go out there and do my best,” said Bouma, who rolled to a 4-1 first-set lead, then pulled out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 three-setter against third seed Julia Formentin, a sophomore from Grosse Ile.
“In the third set, I just had to get my focus back in, especially from the second set,” Bouma said. “I just worked for every point and played as hard as I could.”
Kalamazoo Christian coach Allison VanderMeer said she was proud of the way the freshman bounced back.
“She could have very well folded in that third set and been done with it, but she’s a fierce competitor, and Audrey just stepped up her game like she did in the first set and followed through,” said VanderMeer, who gave the freshman a pep talk after the second set. “She needed to fire up. She just kinda lost steam. She took her foot off the gas pedal in the second set, and (Formentin) definitely took off from there.
“Audrey let off a little and she stepped up and the second set went by way too fast. The third set, I said step up your game a little bit, hit the ball like you know you can, don’t think too much about those shots. She definitely had the ability.”
Formentin said nerves kicked in during the final set.
“I was really nervous and going for too much,” she said. “I should have pulled through, but second place is good. She’s a very good player. It’s a big accomplishment, and I’m glad to be here.”
PHOTOS: (Top) The Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart girls tennis team poses with its championship trophy. (Middle) Kalamazoo Hackett's Meika Ashby finishes a serve during a match at No. 1 singles. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
Holland Courts Honor Program Builder
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 5, 2016
A few days after he stood in front of a group of admirers including friends, fellow coaches and former players – including some from his first Holland High School tennis team in 1972 – Dwayne “Tiger” Teusink drove past the courts that now bear his name.
It’s a welcoming sight honoring someone who has welcomed thousands though the sport over more than a half century as a coach and administrator.
Teusink, a 1954 graduate of Holland High and later Hope College, coached high school tennis at Jackson for seven years and then Holland for 35 while also lending a significant behind-the-scenes voice in the formation of high school tennis as it’s played in Michigan today.
He was recognized for those and many more contributions during the Dutch’s Homecoming weekend Sept. 24 as reportedly more than 200 attendees cheered the renaming of the 5-year-old Holland High facility as the “Tiger Teusink Courts” in honor of the longtime teacher, athletic director and coach.
“The whole experience was overwhelming,” Teusink said Tuesday. “Our facility is a first-rate facility. Holland has always had a great tennis program. The community supports tennis, and this facility obviously belongs to the community, but it makes me really proud that my name is associated with it.”
He’s been associated with most of the foundation-setting of the sport both locally and statewide over the last five decades.
After his time at Jackson High, Teusink returned home to Holland in 1972 and continued as a teacher until 1989 and coach until 1998. He led high school teams to a 453-176-4 record with 13 conference and 16 MHSAA Regional titles, and his Holland boys team was a runner-up at the 1976 Class A Final. He also coached at Hope College from 1994-2009.
At a statewide level, Teusink’s work has affected thousands more. He was on the committee that in 1976 introduced the flighted MHSAA tournament structure developed to promote a team format that remains the standard today. While at Holland, Teusink managed 63 Regional and 17 MHSAA Finals tournaments, and he served on the Finals seeding committee from 1980-2011.
He continues to serve on the MHSAA tennis committee that annually considers rules changes and other business that pertains to the sport. He also has played a major role in the development of the Michigan Interscholastic Tennis Coaches Association, and held offices of president, vice president and secretary/treasurer over a 32-year span.
“He was a mentor to me on how to not only to teach the game, but more importantly teach kids the right way to compete and to enjoy the sport,” said Grand Haven Lakeshore Middle School principal Kevin Polston, who coached tennis at DeWitt from 1999-2002 and then both Buccaneers varsities from 2003-08, and served with Teusink on the MHSTeCA board. “I respected that he always stood for what was right, even if it wasn't easy. You always knew where Tiger stood on something, and he could clearly explain why he came to the conclusions he did. Quite simply, when Tiger spoke, people listened.”
Kevin O’Keefe played four seasons for Teusink before graduating in 1986 and has heard from a number of other alums how their coach was ahead of his time.
As the current Dutch coach since 2008, O’Keefe inherited the “big binder bible” of Teusink’s lesson and practice plans that also contains his mentor’s thoughts on everything from conducting challenge matches to motivating players and working with parents.
“He’d come every day with a plan in mind and with an agenda,” O’Keefe said. “The logistics of how it works still work. A lot of it is still quite relevant.”
Other ways Teusink has become memorable and respected over the years are not known by many. His players always knew that being on time meant being five minutes early, and Teusink would have practices start at odd times like 3:14 or buses leave at 6:54 so his players wouldn’t forget. Polston received the mentor’s help one year running Grand Haven’s league tournament – and marveled at how Teusink allowed players to pick on which court they played, and then also kept track to make sure each school got to pick a court the same number of times.
A more significant philosophy surely benefited hundreds who have played for him. Teusink’s was a no-cut program; his teams regularly numbered 45-50 athletes. “That simply enhanced the things we did to teach teamwork, team discipline, belonging to a team and so on,” Teusink said.
Teusink earned induction into the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1986, the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1989 and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003. He was named National High School Coach of the Year by the United States Tennis Association in 2005, receiving his award at the U.S. Open.
Teusink captained the Hope College men’s basketball team during the 1957-58 season for Russ DeVette, who taught Teusink much about "simply coaching, how to deal with people." Teusink’s first mentor was Joe Moran, who preceded Teusink as Holland’s tennis coaching legend and is the namesake of one of the city’s public parks and tennis courts.
And just as Teusink drove by the sign bearing his name last week, he’ll surely visit more in the future as he remains a sounding board both for his former player and many tennis decision-makers in our state.
“He comes to probably 2-4 matches a year. We stay in touch. I still call him for things,” O’Keefe said. “He’s always there, always ready to answer a question, give advice.”
PHOTO: Tiger Teusink stands with the plaque presented to him Sept. 24, when the Holland High School tennis courts were renamed in his honor. (Photo courtesy of the Holland athletic department.)