Performance: Pioneer's Kari Miller
June 7, 2019
Kari Miller
Ann Arbor Pioneer junior – Tennis
After a year away, Miller returned to high school tennis this spring and won her second No. 1 singles championship in Lower Peninsula Division 1, capping an undefeated season Saturday at the Greater Midland Tennis Center to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Miller also had won No. 1 singles in LPD1 as a freshman before spending last year playing national events. Much was expected from Miller’s return to the high school courts, as she’s ranked 17th nationally in her graduating class by Tennis Recruiting Network and has committed to continue her career after high school at University of Michigan. Miller met all the pressure head on and shined, finishing 29-0 with just two lost sets the entire spring. She entered the LPD1 Finals as the top seed at No. 1 and gave up a combined seven points over her first three matches before falling in the first set of the finale 7-5 to Grosse Pointe South freshman Lily Jones, herself ranked 24th nationally in the Class of 2022. Miller bounced back to win the following two sets 6-0, 6-0. Her flight championship helped Pioneer to a fifth-place team finish with 19 points, an 11-place and 17-point jump from 2018.
Tennis runs in the family; Miller was guided into the sport by her father, and her aunt Annie Miller played professionally and rose to No. 40 in the world in 1998. Annie Miller went on to study at U-M, and Kari is carrying a 4.0 GPA and plans to study business with aspirations of a career in finance or consulting in New York City. Her immediate future, however, includes one more year of high school and another exciting opportunity – her sister Reese will be a freshman and join her on the Pioneer tennis team in 2020.
Ann Arbor Pioneer assistant coach Dan Goldberg said: “Obviously it’s a game-changer when you have the best player in the state come back and play high school tennis for her team. For her, personally, a lot of the tennis she plays at the national level is individual. She loves the girls on the team. She loves being a part of the team. That really was the big decision, along with the fact that she’s already committed to college. Her sophomore year she really needed to go where the competition was.’’
Performance Point: “The state tournament compared to all the tournaments I play isn't the most challenging, but I feel like it's different because there's a lot more pressure involved,” Miller said. “There's big crowds and people cheering. So in some ways I feel like it's actually a harder tournament than a lot of the ones that I'm used to playing. ... The girl I played at the Finals is really, really good, and she's a freshman, and she plays a lot of the same national tournaments as me. She ranks really high for her grade. We're pretty even – I knew that, my parents and coaches knew that, and I'm sure she and her parents and coaches knew.”
All expectations fulfilled: “When I decided to play (high school) again, I don’t think I really thought about it. (But) there was actually more pressure this year than there was last year because everyone knew and lot of people were talking about how I was playing again. I just had to try to not think about what others expected. Obviously I expected a lot from myself, but it made it harder for me when I saw what the expectations were (from) other people. It was mentally tougher this year.”
Aunt Annie knows: “I do sometimes talk to her. I don't really see her that much because she lives in Portland, Oregon. But she Facetimed me after the state tournament, told me congrats, and we talked about it for a little bit, how I was happy that I won and some of the stuff that went on during the tournament. She understands because she's done all I've done, and then more.”
Behind the lens: “My life during the school year is basically homework and school, or on weekends I’ll have a tournament or hang out with my friends a little. When I go on vacation, I usually try to bring my camera. … Recently I've been taking pictures of other people – me and my sister will take pictures of each other or together on vacation, but sometimes I take pictures of nature where I am. I haven't had as much time to do that recently, but mostly during the summers. In seventh grade I saved a bunch of money to buy a camera, so it was definitely worthwhile because it's really nice.”
More to accomplish: “Next year I just want to be able to play on the team with my sister. And I think honestly, the one other thing is next year I think we'll be even better (as a team) than this year. Next year we really need to try to win the state tournament. I think we'll have a good chance. I mean, I want to try to win individually again – winning a third time would be nice – but I already won twice. The one thing I would say I haven't experienced yet is winning as a team.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
and Perry A. Farrell, correspondent
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
May 23: Keshaun Harris, Lansing Waverly track & field - Read
May 16: Gabbie Sherman, Millington softball - Read
May 9: Nathan Taylor, Muskegon Mona Shores golf - Read
May 2: Ally Gaunt, New Baltimore Anchor Bay soccer - Read
April 25: Kali Heivilin, Three Rivers softball - Read
March 28: Rickea Jackson, Detroit Edison basketball - Read
March 21: Noah Wiswary, Hudsonville Unity Christian basketball - Read
March 14: Cam Peel, Spring Lake swimming - Read
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer's Kari Miller lines up a backhand during a first-day match at last weekend's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at Greater Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Miller waits on a volley during her run to the No. 1 singles title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Preview: Reigning Champions Seeking Repeat Performances at Midland Tennis Center
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 26, 2026
As with the MHSAA boys championship tournaments this past fall, the Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals over the next two weeks will have a new look – although familiarity reigns as last year’s four team champions are the favorites again in their respective divisions.
Northville, Birmingham Seaholm, Detroit Country Day and Ann Arbor Greenhills will look to maintain their supremacy all at Midland Tennis Center, beginning with Division 4 today and Thursday, followed by Division 1 this Friday and Saturday, and then Division 2 on June 3 and 4 and Division 3 over June 5 and 6.
Below are details on those top-ranked teams and more contenders to watch during all four Finals:
Division 1
Top-ranked: 1. Northville, 2. Utica Eisenhower, 3. Novi.
Northville is the reigning champion, and Utica Eisenhower has finished second the last two seasons and is seeking its first title. Northville claimed last year’s team trophy by just a point, and third-place Novi was only four back of the lead and also enters this weekend seeking a first Finals championship.
Northville: The Mustangs will pursue a repeat with six seeded flights and potentially powered by doubles with juniors Sravya Doppalapudi and Francine Ong seeded first at No. 2 and senior Michelle Lee and junior Emma Murphy seeded first at No. 4. All four doubles pairs are seeded third or higher, as is sophomore Grace Xu at No. 3 singles. Doppalapudi and Ong were champions at No. 3 doubles last season, Murphy was part of the No. 4 champion, juniors Lucia Lachapelle and Aadya Pullalarevu were runners-up at No. 2 and are second-seeded at No. 3 this time, and junior Emmi Dober is part of the third-seeded No. 1 pair after finishing second at No. 3 singles in 2025.
Utica Eisenhower: The Eagles just missed a first title last year, and they are loaded especially at singles with six flights total seeded for the weekend. Senior Gabriella Sadowski is seeded second at No. 1 singles after winning the flight as a sophomore and finishing runner-up a year ago. Sophomore Morgan Emerick is seeded first at No. 2 and the reigning champion in that bracket, and senior Sofia Gardner is seeded second at No. 4. Sadowski and Emerick are undefeated this spring. Senior Alexis Gabriel has been part of No. 1 and No. 2 doubles champions over the last two seasons and is seeded fourth at No. 1 this time with junior Kara Lu.
Ann Arbor Pioneer: The Pioneers were ranked No. 4 in the most recent poll and seeded to make a move after finishing seventh a year ago. They are seeded at all four singles flights and two doubles flights, with sophomores Maryn Etheridge and Ayla Altinsel the top seed at No. 3 doubles.
Saline senior Emerson Jones: She’s the top seed at No. 1 singles and 18-0 in her only season playing high school tennis, with 11 wins (including her last four) by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
Clarkston junior Kayla Lemke: The third seed at No. 1 singles is 20-2 with her only losses to Saline’s Jones and Eisenhower’s Sadowski.
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek junior Larissa Yoshino/sophomore Yousong Choi: The top-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles is 19-1 with its only loss in three sets to Eisenhower’s Gabriel and Lu.
Division 2
Top-ranked: 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 3. Farmington Hills Mercy.
Reigning champion Seaholm has won two of the last three titles and finished first or second the last four seasons. Forest Hills Northern most recently won this tournament in 2024 and owns three of the five championships in Division 2 this decade. Mercy finished runner-up to Seaholm last year and is seeking its first team Finals title in this sport.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples will be tough to catch with seven top-seeded flights – sophomore Devon Rusk at No. 2 singles, junior Sabrina Dunn at No. 3, junior Izzy Bloom at No. 4, senior Lucy Jen and junior Sophia Arndt at No. 1 doubles, senior Anna Olekszyk and junior Katie Joyce at No. 2, junior Cate French and senior Kate Crowley at No. 3 and junior Alina Villaire and senior Jacqueline Supancich the top-seeded No. 4 pair. Senior Jada Josifovski is the sixth-seeded player at No. 1 singles and won No. 2 a year ago. Olekszyk and Arndt won No. 2 doubles last spring, Crowley and French won No. 3, Joyce and Villaire won No. 4 and Jen was part of the runner-up at No. 1. Bloom was the runner-up at No. 4 singles in 2025.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies finished third a year ago and will make a run at the top spots led by four second-seeded flights – senior Harriet Ogilvie at No. 1 singles, sophomore Audrey Kowatch at No. 4, sophomore Hayla Messelink and senior Hailey Pfeiffle at No. 3 doubles and senior Maddie Decker and freshman Mercedes Acevedo at No. 4. Senior Ava Targosz and sophomore Sadie Wolfe are seeded fifth at No. 2 doubles after finishing runner-up at No. 4 last year.
Farmington Hills Mercy: The Marlins will look to make up seven points from last year’s runner-up finish with five flights seeded among the top three in their respective brackets. Seniors Alexa Dueweke and Scarlett Manchinger are second seeds at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, and sophomore Anna Naida and senior Gabby Owens are second-seeded at No. 2 doubles. Owens was the champion at No. 4 singles last season, and senior Keira Kirkland was the runner-up at No. 2 and is seeded third at No. 1 this weekend.
Ana Cheng, Mattawan senior: The top-seeded player at No. 1 singles is 24-2 with a win over Ogilvie just two weeks ago but a loss to Kirkland at the start of May. Cheng reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 last season as the seven seed.
Division 3
Top-ranked: 1. Detroit Country Day, 2. East Grand Rapids, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Country Day is seeking to run its latest championship streak to three, and East Grand Rapids in 2009 is the last team not Country Day or Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood to win the Division 3 title. The Pioneers are seeking to make a jump from sixth last season. Marian finished third a year ago and most recently won a championship in 2016 in Division 2.
Detroit Country Day: Five top seeds will lead the Yellowjackets’ pursuit. Sophomore Chloe Conniff is on the top line at No. 1 singles after finishing second at No. 2 last year, and sophomore Karishma Vakhariya is the top seed at No. 2 coming off the championship at No. 3. Junior Quinn Norlander and senior Helen Benjamin are top-seeded at No. 1 doubles and familiar with this stage as well; Benjamin has won two singles titles including at No. 4 last season, and Norlander was part of last spring’s No. 1 doubles runner-up. Sophomore Grace Kalkanis was part of the No. 4 champion last season and is seeded first at No. 2 with sophomore Zoe Bergg, and senior Jiya Gill and sophomore Zoe Grebinski are top-seeded at No. 4 this time. Sophomore Addie Grebinski is seeded third at No. 3 singles and senior Noor Mahmoud is part of the third-seeded pair at No. 3 doubles after they teamed up to finish runner-up at No. 2 doubles in 2025.
East Grand Rapids: Seven of eight EGR flights are seeded, and all seven are seeded fourth or higher with freshman Evelyn Gingras leading the way on the top line at No. 3 singles. Sophomore Mia Owings also is forecasted to play for a flight championship as the second seed at No. 4 singles.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: Seven flights are seeded and with several championship match expectations. Freshman Gwen Slapak is the top seed at No. 4 singles, with senior Emerson Turkot and junior Stella Glorio the second seed at No. 2 doubles, freshman Emerson Villalba and junior Lexa Hindo second-seeded at No. 3 and juniors Lizzie Plunkett and Clare Reaume the second seed at No. 4. Glorio and Hindo were the champions at No. 3 last season.
Henley Honholt, Grand Rapids Christian sophomore: The second seed at No. 1 singles is 16-1 with her only loss to Country Day’s Conniff. Honholt reached the semifinals as the third seed last season.
Lilah Zaskowski, Ada Forest Hills Eastern junior: After reaching the quarterfinals last season as the sixth seed, she’s back as the third in the No. 1 singles bracket with three of her four loses to Honholt or Conniff.
Division 4
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 3. Allegan.
Greenhills has won the last four Division 4 championships, and Notre Dame Prep has finished second the last two seasons – which have been the Fighting Irish’s highest Finals finishes as they continue to pursue a first title. Allegan is seeking its first as well and has four runner-up finishes, its most recent in 2013 in Division 3.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: Junior Nina Malani at No. 1 singles and freshman Jahan Soofi at No. 4 are on the top lines of their respective brackets, and similarly seniors Danica Rakic-Dennis and Lauren Ye are seeded first at No. 1 doubles and senior Aoife Tang and sophomore Linnea Bengtson are the top seed at No. 4. The other four flights are seeded second or third in their brackets. Malani won No. 4 singles last season and sophomore Hazel Morgan is seeded third at No. 2 this time after winning No. 3 in 2025. Rakic-Dennis was part of the champion at No. 1 doubles and Ye part of the winning pair at No. 3 last spring with junior Alyssa Hong, who is joined by junior Jessica Lou on the third-seeded No. 2 doubles pair.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: The Irish will attempt to cut into Greenhills’ advantage led by sophomores Vanessa Artinian and Regina Carpenese holding down the top seed at No. 2 doubles and senior Nina Shanidze seeded second at No. 3 singles. Artinian was part of the No. 4 doubles champion last year – with sophomore Elena Vandieren, who is playing No. 1 doubles with sophomore Adriana Dedukaj – and senior Adriana Johnson was part of the runner-up at No. 3 and with freshman Adrienne Hofley is seeded sixth at that flight this time. Junior Ana Jarvis is playing No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 3 a year ago.
Allegan: The Tigers are seeded at six flights and especially powerful in doubles. Seniors Sophia Augustine and Emma Scheffler are the top seed at No. 3, with junior Ireland Dewey and senior Madison Cook the second seed at No. 1 and seniors Taylor Fuller and Hanna Kievit second-seeded at No. 2.
Sonya Jayakar, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett sophomore: After opening this season with a pair of defeats – including the first to Malani – Jayakar has run off 12 straight wins. She reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 while unseeded as a freshman.
Eliana McClellan, Traverse City St. Francis junior: She finished runner-up at No. 2 singles last season, and her only losses this spring were during the first event – against Malani and Saline’s Jones.
PHOTO Detroit Country Day's Quinn Norlander gets to a ball near the net during the 2025 Division 3 Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)