Past D2 Champs Share This Season's Title
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
September 29, 2016
KINGSFORD — Prior to 2015, Ishpeming Westwood was enjoying a six-year championship reign in the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Tennis Finals.
Then it was Munising’s turn to celebrate its first championship a year ago.
Both schools were celebrating on a mostly sunny and cool Wednesday as they shared this season’s title with 16 points apiece. Iron River West Iron County placed third with 14.
“The last one is always the best one,” said Westwood coach Chris Jackson. “You never know when you’re going to win it again. We went into this season with what we thought would be a solid lineup, then about 3-4 girls moved out of the district. We needed some younger kids to step in and do some things. We’ve been building all year. Our lineup had to be moved around. We had to ask our depth to step up.”
Munising also had to overcome a few things to maintain a share of the title, as coach Rod Gendron explained.
“We don’t have enough courts to host a meet,” he said. “All the girls had to practice on what we had, although I think that made our team even closer. Our team chemistry has been good. We’re always supporting each other. Westwood is a tough team, no doubt about it. We’re very happy with our performance.”
Munising secured its share in No. 3 singles where Kelsea Ackerman posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory over West Iron’s Isabelle Hoogenboom.
Westwood clinched its share a short time earlier in No. 1 doubles, with seniors Mady Mattson and Averie Kangas gaining a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Munising seniors Marissa Immel and Bailey Downs during a match that endured a half-hour rain delay.
“We really wanted this one,” said Mattson. “We were on top of our game. It felt like we had good energy, then it took a little while for us to get that back (after the delay).”
Immel and Downs, who edged the Westwood duo on a tie-breaker during the regular season, returned to the court with plenty of energy after the showers moved through the area. By then, however, they were trailing 3-1 in the second set and didn’t seem to have an answer for Mattson and Kangas’ lobs over the net.
“We felt if we moved around a lot and communicated, we could find the holes,” said Kangas. “They’re a good team, but I think the rain delay helped us refocus.”
Gendron was impressed with Westwood’s performance at No. 1 doubles.
“Their overhand shots and soft lobs over the net were very effective, and they made very few errors,” he said. “Marissa and Bailey gave us two great years. They won a lot of matches.”
Munising senior Frankie Mattson dispatched West Iron sophomore Katarina Serbentas 6-1, 6-1 for her first title at No. 1 singles.
“I thought my serving was pretty consistent,” Mattson said. “I think I got to her a little mentally. Being a senior, there’s a lot of pressure on you, especially when you’re the No. 1 seed. I was runner-up here last year, which I think motivated me. I’m happy with how things ended. Katarina is a good player. She has two good years of tennis ahead of her.”
Munising junior Marissa Ackerman also was crowned champion for the first time after taking a 6-2, 6-0 decision from Westwood’s Marissa Carello.
Both players appeared to follow a conservative approach in the first set. Ackerman then took charge in the second after gaining the first point on a lob over the net.
“I think that kind of set the tone,” she said. “I always try to hit the ball short when my opponent is on the back line. I started going more for angles and hitting the ball harder in the second set. There’s a lot of pressure, but this is definitely worth it. I think losing in the finals last year had a great impact on today. I was able to learn some things from that. I had a better attitude than I did in last year’s finals.”
Gendron was happy with the performance by the Mustangs’ singles.
“Frankie played lights out in the finals,” he said. “Everybody at No. 1 singles is a good player. Marissa and Kelsea (Ackerman) hadn’t lost a set all year. I’m looking forward to them stepping up to No. 1 and 2 next year.”
Westwood grabbed the top three flights in doubles, including Madelyn Koski-Tessa Leece’s 7-6, 6-3 conquest of Munising’s Talatha Witty-Keira Stamply at No. 3
“The key to our lineup is all six of our seniors played their best tennis all year,” said Jackson. “They wanted to be leaders. They did what they had to do. It all started with the (Mid-Peninsula) conference meet when Negaunee beat us by just one point (39-38). I think that was a confidence builder for our girls.”
West Iron earned a victory at No. 4 doubles as Aly Pangrazzi-Eden Golliher topped Westwood’s Erin Paavo-Aubrie Magnuson 6-3, 6-2.
“We told our girls it would be within 1-2 points (for the title), and we came up a little short today,” said Wykons’ coach Joe Serbentas. “We’re a young team. We had three sophomores in the singles finals. Yet, we were right there. Last year, we weren’t in the mix. We came a long way this year and were 9-2 in dual meets. We had a very nice season. The future looks good.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Munising's Frankie Mattson follows through on a swing during Wednesday's Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals on the way to winning No. 1 singles. (Middle) Ishpeming Westwood's Paige Rivard and Cayla Ostola also were among flight champions, at No. 2 doubles. (Photos by Adam Niemi)
Escanaba, Negaunee 'As Even As It Gets' Again in Sharing UPD1 Title
By
Mitch Vosburg
Special for MHSAA.com
October 5, 2023
MARQUETTE — On Sept. 13, Escanaba and Negaunee collided in a dual meet in Escanaba. The Eskymos and Miners tied 4-4.
Flash forward 21 days and both squads once again found themselves neck and neck on the court. With a Finals title on the line, the Eskymos and Miners, similar to their first meeting, finished tied for the Upper Peninsula Division 1 championship Wednesday at Marquette High School.
The squads were crowned co-champions after each accumulating 16 points.
Ishpeming Westwood finished in third place with 14 points, Marquette finished fourth with four points, Gladstone and Kingsford tied for fifth with two apiece and Menominee finished seventh with one point.
For Escanaba, Wednesday was its first share of a team Finals championship since 2011.
“It’s a great ending,” Escanaba coach Chris Ogren said. “We had two really good teams this year. When we played head-to-head we were as even as it gets. On the last day of the year with everybody here, we were as even as it gets. It’s perfectly fitting. It feels great.”
For the Miners, it was their sixth claim of a Finals title since 2015.
“This is probably one of our most rewarding titles that we've had in any particular year,” Miners coach Kyle Saari said. “These girls battled through an awful lot of adversity this season. Some had injuries, and just a variety of different things kind of popped up. Coming into today we knew we needed a lot of things to go right to have a chance. Every single thing we needed … they answered the bell and it happened.”
In No. 1 singles action, the Eskymos claimed three critical points behind the efforts of Sophie Derkos. The senior knocked off the reigning No. 2 singles champion, Gladstone’s Tia Schone, 6-0, 6-1 in semifinal action. In the final, Derkos collided with Negaunee’s Aubrey Johnson, who was runner-up to Schone in No. 2 singles action in 2022. The Esky senior earned a decisive 6-1, 6-0 win to finish undefeated at 18-0 and claim her second-straight individual Finals title in the process.
The Miners earned two individual titles Wednesday. Rheana Nelson claimed hers at No. 3 singles, besting Gladstone’s Alexis Burch in quarterfinal action 6-0, 6-0, Westwood’s Emersyn Nelson 6-1, 6-3, in the semi and earning a 6-2, 7-5 win over Escanaba’s Sam Korpi to clinch. Nelson finished the season with a record of 18-1.
Madalynn Peters, the top-seeded competitor at No. 4 singles, toppled Westwood’s Morgan Schnieder 6-1, 6-3, in semifinal action and earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Escanaba’s Maggie Martin in the final.
Escanaba made up ground on Negaunee with a pair of championship victories in doubles play.
In No. 1 doubles action, the tandem of Natalie Williams and Sam Manninen first defeated Kingsford’s Audrey Veale and Libby Vross 6-2, 6-4. In the final, Williams and Manninen vanquished Westwood’s Isabelle Marta and Alyssa Couveau 6-4, 6-3 to finish their senior seasons with a perfect record of 15-0.
Williams and Manninen weren’t the only Eskymos pairing to find success Wednesday and in 2023. Escanaba’s No. 4 doubles pairing of juniors Danni Hughes and Carly Bowden bested Marquette’s Eva Sjoholm and Mylee Muscoe 6-0, 6-2, before toppling Westwood’s Taylor Jackovich and Kaya Etelmaki 6-4, 6-1 in the championship match to finish their season at 19-0.
Negaunee claimed the No. 3 doubles title. The tandem of Autumn Ring and Alyssa Borlace – the latter subbing in at the last minute Wednesday – ran the table by defeating Kingsford’s Addisyn Kreigl and Eden Janousek 6-1, 6-1, in quarterfinal action, top-seeded Laura Barsch and Aubree Blackburn (Marquette) 7-5, 6-0, and Escanaba’s Sophie Wagner and Val Royer 2-6, 6-0, 6-1, in the final.
Westwood’s Samantha Ruby earned the crown in No. 2 singles by defeating Kingsford’s Allette Shanks 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinal, knocking off Gladstone’s Addie Thombley 7-6, 6-3, in their semifinal and besting top-seeded Lilliana Saunders from Negaunee 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, to clinch.
The Patriots also claimed a title in No. 2 doubles action. The pairing of Nolia Dawson and Kaylin Doney knocked off Menominee’s Isabelle Bentley and Isabelle Busher 6-3, 6-0 in a quarterfinal, defeated Escanaba’s Sonya Maki and Molly Smale 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals and vanquished Negaunee’s Olivia Lunseth and Sage Juntti in a thrilling 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5) championship match.
PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba senior Sophie Derkos returns a volley during her semifinal match with Gladstone’s Tia Schone on Wednesday. (Middle) Negaunee junior Aubrey Johnson tracks a shot during her semifinal against Westwood’s Lexi Olson. (Photos by Mitch Vosburg.)