Pioneer, Bloomfield Hills Solidify Shared Superiority in Division 1
By
Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2021
MASON – It is pretty rare for the No. 4 doubles tennis match to draw a large crowd – but that’s exactly what happened on Saturday at Mason High at the close of the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.
And now the underclassman duo of Kamryn Dumas and Megan Blake of Holland West Ottawa have an entirely new band of “sisters” and fans in the Pioneers of Ann Arbor.
Dumas and Blake battled down to the bitter end and closely defeated the team of Grace Bickersteth/Ellie Alberts of Bloomfield Hills, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, to win their first individual state championship.
More definitively, their win allowed Pioneer to hang on and tie Bloomfield Hills overall, 30-30 in team points to settle the Finals team race with co-champions. Birmingham Seaholm earned 20 points to place third.
“I think it’s so fun that even though we’re on different teams we can still come together and cheer for each other,” Blake said about the Pioneer team swarming the No. 4 doubles court afterwards.
If Bloomfield Hills had won that last match, the Black Hawks would have earned the team championship outright.
“Our attitude was good today,” Blake added. “We just worked together, we came together between points to talk with each other and pull each other up.”
Dumas said representing their school and city – heck, their region too – was important.
“It’s kind of crazy out here,” she said about the fans’ reaction. “I think people don’t respect the west side (of the state) for tennis. The east side is like the dominant for sure, so it was nice to prove ourselves in that way – to have everyone believe in us, and that really strengthened us in the matches.”
Crowning team co-champions certainly seemed like the right ending to a season that wasn’t even certain to happen, after COVID-19 cancelled all 2020 spring sports. Both Pioneer and Bloomfield Hills have top-notch squads that also tied, 4-4, during the regular season in a head-to-head dual.
Pioneer totally dominated the singles flights this weekend, and Bloomfield Hills was powerful in doubles. Pioneer swept the singles championships with significant wins by Reese Miller (No. 1), Elsie Van Wieren (No. 2), Mia Goldstein (No. 3) and Bridgette Kelly (No. 4). All four came in as number one seeds, and all four went undefeated against Division 1 competition the entire season.
“I’ve been coaching for 30 years and I’ve had some of the finest players in the state, boys and girls. And I’ve never had a singles lineup like this, and who went through the season undefeated, and undefeated in such ways that you can’t imagine – so few games lost in the season,” said Pioneer coach Tom Pullen. “Some of them lost fewer than 10 games the entire season. It’s just really astounding.”
Between those four players, during the final matches only Saturday, their game scores totaled 48-8. Those wins gave the Pioneers an advantage of 30 team points to 27 over Bloomfield Hills, which soon after won the Nos. 1-3 doubles matches for the team championship tie.
“We had to battle today, and I couldn’t be happier (with the co-champs result),” said Bloomfield Hills coach Chris Dobson. “This was an epic performance by the girls. I think we were considered No. 2 all through the season, respectfully, to Pioneer. We had a decisive tie with them before (during the regular season) and frankly we felt co-No. 1 all through the season, so we feel this is a more appropriate (final result) and not as surprising as many others might feel.
“A championship is a championship; there’s no asterisk by it. Pioneer has a powerhouse lineup at singles like I’ve never seen. So, for what we had to do and how we had to battle, to share it with a phenomenal team, there certainly is no shame in that whatsoever.”
Hannah Tomina and Noa Goldstein won No. 1 doubles as the second seed at their flight, while Raegan Tomina and Carly Bernard at No. 2, and Eryn Stern and Natalie Raab at No. 3, entered as top seeds on the way to winning those championships. And Bickersteth and Alberts brought the team four points by reaching the No. 4 championship match, just as key with every point contributing to the eventual shared team title.
Mia Goldstein, a junior, is the Pioneers’ captain and looking forward to the future since none of the starting singles players graduate this year.
“I’m super proud of the girls this weekend,” she said as all the doubles matches were still underway. “I know we came in with pretty high expectations, being the No. 1 seeds all the way around. And I know my girls are all fighters, so I knew that even if we were having an off day, we could compete our hearts out.
“I think it’s pretty crazy that we swept singles. I don’t know if it’s ever happened before, but I’m just really proud of everyone and the team spirit we had today.”
Miller, a sophomore, expressed one regret that was out of her control last spring. She didn’t get to play on the team with her older sister, Karina, who graduated in 2020 and now plays tennis at Michigan.
“Having watched my sister play all through high school, I felt pretty confident knowing what to do out here,” she said. “I was pretty confident in everyone coming in, since we’re the No. 1 seeds, we were all undefeated except two losses I had to a really great player (Detroit Country Day’s Julia Fliegner) in another Division (3). That confidence helped all of us, and we all felt that ‘we got this, we know we can do it.’ But I knew we’d still have some tough matches. Everyone (at states) is good.
“My finals opponent (Zoe Angell, Midland Dow) is really good, and our matches this season have been much closer than the final scores indicated. But I was excited. I’ve never played in states before because of last year getting canceled.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills celebrates one of its flight championships Saturday at Mason High School. (Middle) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Reese Miller returns a volley during her No. 1 singles championship win. (Below) Bloomfield Hills’ Hannah Tomina returns a volley during her and Noa Goldstein’s No. 1 doubles title-deciding match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Senior-Powered Ishpeming Follows Doubles Dominance to 1st Finals Win
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
October 5, 2023
KINGSFORD – Ishpeming coach Kaitlin Rich said she had a call to make after Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals.
The school never needed a girls tennis banner before, but they do now.
The Hematites won their first U.P. title Wednesday at Kingsford, edging West Iron County 19-18 on a warm, windy day in Dickinson County.
It’s been their goal since finishing runner-up to Iron Mountain last year. Rich was reminded of that earlier this week in her Facebook memories – her team of mostly seniors were juniors then, and their goal was, “U.P. ’23.”
“They set that goal, and they crushed it,” Rich said. “They showed up every day. They worked hard.”
Munising was third with seven points. Gwinn, Iron Mountain, Ironwood and Norway all had three.
After the longest event of the day finally wrapped up, the Ishpeming players went to the scoring area and confirmed their victory. They celebrated with their trophy and looked forward to their fire truck escort into Ishpeming later that evening.
Ten of the 12 Ishpeming players were seniors. One of the two sophomores is Rich’s sister.
“I have been connected to these seniors since I taught them in third grade, and as a coach, there’s not a greater moment that I think I’ve had or will ever have than this moment right now,” Rich said. “These girls work so hard every day. Most of them dual sport. They are the definition of athlete: They have commitment to each other, they have true grit and there’s nothing that will top this day for me as a coach – going forward, in the past, nothing.”
West Iron County, which won all four singles flights, came up just short of a first U.P. title since 2020.
“Overall a very good day for the team,” WIC coach Jen Schive said. “They are a team of seniors, so we were coming out and we were ready to compete against them. I think the girls overall did pretty well this year. I’m excited for next year because I have a good group of incoming juniors.”
Ishpeming won on the strength of its doubles teams, all four of which won Wednesday.
Addison Morton and Payton Manninen defeated West Iron County’s Destiny Lemery and Olivia LaMay 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 1 doubles final.
The No. 1 seeds started slow in their semifinal win over Ironwood after a first-round bye. They had to wait again to play the final, and they overcame a slow start once again.
“But we were able to bring the energy and play how we know we can play,” Morton said. “It was really good to be able to take the championship.”
She said the team title was “really important for us,” with all the seniors they had this season.
Rich said it’d be hard to find a more athletic doubles team than her No. 1 pair.
“They are just so athletic,” she said. “And I’ll tell you, those two have a fire in them that you can’t coach and they are just mentally tough.”
Ishpeming’s No. 2 doubles team of Jenna Maki and Emma LaFave defeated West Iron’s Aubrey Richardson and Kaycee Ingram 6-2, 6-0.
“I think this is the best me and Emma have ever played together,” Maki said. “We were pretty nervous going into it. Last time we played, we played about two weeks ago in Ishpeming, and it was tiebreaker each set, so we thought it was going to be a lot more of a challenge. But we played really great and swept them.”
They complement each other well, Rich said.
“Jenna Maki is just a beast at the net and Emma has just beautiful placement. She can get the other team running. She sees the gaps and hits them all the time,” Rich said.
The No. 3 duo of Ciara Schaffer and Kadie Kaukola downed Munising’s Tessa Salo and Emmy Crisp 6-1, 6-4.
“It feels really good to finally see our work pay off, all the practice we’ve put in, and also being our senior year, getting the title,” Kaukola said.
They work well together also, Rich said.
“The growth they’ve shown from the beginning of the season to now is just amazing,” she said. “And I’ll tell you, Katie Kaukola is just an athlete and she can get to any ball on that court. Ciara is a competitor, and she loves the game more than anybody.”
Rich’s sister, Ava Jo Hares, and Kaitlyn VanDeuren defeated Munising’s Tamryn Nolan and Lauren Nelson 6-2, 6-0, for the No. 4 doubles win. Hares said they did well battling the strong wind.
They’d lost only to Negaunee in what was a dominant season.
“They again are very well-balanced,” Rich said. “Kaitlyn is phenomenal at the net. She’s very intimidating up there. She’s very tall, and she gets a lot of the balls down. And then Ava hustles and she has very good placement and she also has a really good serve, especially for a sophomore.”
West Iron County swept the singles championships.
The Wykons’ Aubrey Bice defeated Gwinn’s Miaha Schiefel 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in No. 1 singles.
“It shows me that all my hard work finally paid off and at least I can go out with a bang in my last year,” Bice said.
Coach Schive said Bice is a phenomenal player.
“She’s a very focused player; she is a true No. 1,” Schive said. “I am glad that she won today, she fully deserves it. She’s been fighting all season and working every little bit, everything that she knows that she needs to win.”
Seanna Stine swept Ishpeming’s Emily DeMarois 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.
“I stayed confident, and I hit well,” Stine said.
Schive said Stine showed her senior athleticism all season.
“She hits the ball well, and she strives to really work on her placement as a strategy,” she said.
Kaitlyn Smith took No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-1, over Ishpeming’s Lilly Swanson.
“What a competitor,” Schive said. “All year long, she strives to do well, she works and puts a lot of time in. You can see it paid off today.”
Erin Kolbas defeated Ishpeming’s Lilly Ryan 6-1, 6-0, at No. 4 singles. It was the final match of the day and all of the remaining players were able to watch.
“At first it was just me and the other team, and my team wasn’t over there. I was a little bit worried, I was scared. But then my team came over and they were cheering me on, so I felt a lot better,” Kolbas said. “I genuinely didn’t expect to get this far because this is my first year.”
Schieve said the sophomore has improved “leaps and bounds” this year.
“She has put her time in,” Schive said.
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming's Emily DeMarois finished second at No. 2 singles at Wednesday's UP Division 2 Finals in Kingsford. (Middle) West Iron County's Aubrey Bice won No. 1 singles. (Below) Gwinn's Miaha Schiefel finished runner-up at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Jason Juno.)