LPD3 Champions Continue Dominance
May 30, 2015
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
GRAND BLANC – The unthinkable almost happened in one regard, then it did happen in another at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Girls Tennis Final on Saturday.
The unthinkable almost happened in that Williamston junior Sara Daavettila nearly lost a game.
The No. 1 singles standout for the Hornets, who also happens to be one of the top junior players in the country, Daavettila entered Saturday’s championship match against Sasha Hartje of Birmingham Detroit Country Day having not dropped a game in any of her matches this season.
But that streak was in jeopardy during the fourth game of the second set, when Daavettila struggled with her serve and fell behind 30-40 to Hartje.
Following a second serve, Daavettila then hit a forehand that hit the top of the net solidly and went straight up into the air.
The ball stayed in the air and then … dropped softly on Hartje’s side.
Point Daavettila.
Game back to deuce.
“I was really lucky,” Daavettila said. “I’m sorry to Sasha, but I was happy.”
Daavettila ended up staving off another game point, won that game to go up 4-0 and then wasn’t challenged the last two to beat Hartje, 6-0, 6-0, and win her second straight No. 1 singles title and extend her streak of games won to 245.
Given her dominance and national acclaim on the junior circuit, Daavettila sometimes gets asked why she bothers at all to play in high school.
But seeing teammates wearing shirts with her name on it cheering her every move, and the fact she gets well-wishes from classmates while walking the halls at school, make it an easy answer for her.
“The girls, I love them and I do it for the school,” said Daavettila, who also announced that she recently committed to play in college at University of North Carolina. “It’s great and supporting. Getting ready, that is how it is going to be in college. The USTA, it’s single so it’s a lot of individual. It’s nice to be on a team.”
Next up for Daavettila is a busy summer, which includes competing at tournaments each weekend, most notably a U.S. Open qualifier and a tournament in California.
As for the unthinkable that did happen, it was that Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood won its fifth straight team title despite not having a top seed at any of the eight flights.
But Cranbrook was No. 1 where it mattered most, the final team standings, using its superior depth to win it all again with a tournament-best 32 points.
“This was a team effort,” Cranbrook head coach Jeff Etterbeek said. “Everybody peaked at the right time. All our girls played their best tennis of the year. I was very pleased with our whole team.”
Grand Rapids Christian was second with 28 points, and Detroit Country Day was third with 27.
Holland Christian (17 points) and Grosse Ile (16 points) rounded out the top five.
Cranbrook Kingswood entered Saturday’s final day having advanced to the semifinals in all eight flights on Friday to take a one-point lead over Grand Rapids Christian, and the Cranes ended up making the finals at No. 2 singles, No. 3 singles, No. 4 singles, No. 2 doubles, No. 3 doubles and No. 4 doubles.
The team of Amanda Simmons and Amanda Twu won No. 2 doubles despite being seeded fifth, and the team of Amelia Smith and Alex Bowers triumphed at No. 4 doubles after being seeded second.
Emily Harvey advanced to the finals at No. 2 singles, Jazz Teste went to the finals at No. 3 singles as the third seed, Kate Cao made it to the finals at No. 4 singles, and the team of Sauma Du and Mackenzie Beckett advanced to the finals at No. 3 doubles.
“We felt that coming into this (Country Day) had the strongest singles lineup, Grand Rapids Christian probably had the strongest doubles lineup and we were somewhere in between both,” Etterbeek said. “Fortunately for us it worked out that way.”
Country Day did dominate the singles flights, as Haley Mullins at No. 2 singles, Sadina Fadel at No. 3 singles and Sarah Carroll at No. 4 singles all ended up winning championships to go along with Hartje’s runner-up finish at No. 1 singles.
Grand Rapids Christian was victorious in two doubles flights, with the team of Hannah Slenk and McKenzie Moorhead at No. 1 doubles and the team of Natalie DeBoer and Kate Zwiers at No. 3 doubles winning titles.
Because of stormy weather in the area, all of the tournament’s action on Saturday was moved indoors to Genesys Athletic Club in Grand Blanc.
PHOTO: (Top) Williamston junior Sara Daavettila returns a shot during her No. 1 singles championship match win. (Middle) Cranbrook Kingswood earned its fifth straight Finals championship. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
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.)