Preview: Multiple Contenders Set to Pursue 1st-Time Finals Championships
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 28, 2025
In a sport frequently dominated at the Finals level by a handful of power programs, we could see a few emerge to join that group this weekend.
The top-three ranked teams in Lower Peninsula Division 1 all are seeking a first MHSAA Girls Tennis Finals championship, as is Division 2 top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy.
Conversely, Ann Arbor Greenhills returns a significant portion of last season’s lineup as it plays for a fourth-straight Division 4 title, and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Detroit Country Day are favorites again in Division 3 having combined to win the last 14 team championships in that bracket.
All four divisions will compete Friday and Saturday over multiple locations, with semifinals and finals to be played at the first sites listed below in each. Play begins between 8:15-8:30 each morning.
Below is a glance at the highest-ranked teams in each division and a few more highly-seeded flight contenders. Click for full brackets and more from MHSAA.com.
LP Division 1 at Byron Center West Sports Complex & Grand Rapids South Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Utica Eisenhower, 2. Novi, 3. Rochester Adams.
Utica Eisenhower: The Eagles made their strongest run at a first championship last season, finishing runner-up for the first time and six points off the lead. They are seeded at six flights this weekend with three top seeds – reigning No. 1 singles champion Gabriella Sadowski again at that flight now as a junior, freshman Morgan Emerick at No. 2 singles and junior Alexis Gabriel and senior Alayna Aamodt at No. 2 doubles; Gabriel was part of the No. 1 doubles champion last year. Two more doubles pairs are seeded third.
Novi: The Wildcats are seeking their first Finals team title as well after tying for fourth the last two seasons. Seven of eight flights are seeded with two top seeds and two seconds – junior Rebecca Liu earned the top line in No. 4 singles, and seniors Alice Chen and Rashi Bajpai are top-seeded at No. 1 doubles; Chen was part of last season’s runner-up pair at No. 1. Juniors Kyra Thomas and Samaara George are second-seeded for the second year in a row, this time at No. 2 doubles after reaching the semifinals at No. 4 in 2024.
Rochester Adams: The Highlanders are playing for a second Finals championship after winning Class A in 1987. They tied for eighth last season but enter this weekend with four seeded flights led by top-seeded juniors Joanna Ouyang and Monika Camaj at No. 1 doubles and second-seeded senior Nicole Fu at No. 1 singles. Fu has finished No. 1 singles runner-up the last three seasons, losing to Sadowski in three sets last year but more recently winning their May 8 match in two sets.
Isabella Barretto, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior: She’s seeded third at No. 1 singles and will try to break up a Sadowski/Fu rematch. Her only loss came to Sadowski, and she defeated Fu in April.
Rory Hoyle, Clarkston freshman: She missed out on the Wolves’ 2024 team title run by a year, but enters her first Finals seeded second at No. 1 singles and having played all three contenders seeded higher in this bracket.
Other returning flight champions: Charlotte Partchenko, Clarkston senior (No. 4 singles last season, No. 2 this weekend); Nainika Jasti, Troy junior (No. 2 doubles last season, No. 1 singles this weekend).
LP Division 2 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: 1. Farmington Hills Mercy, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3. Midland Dow.
Farmington Hills Mercy: The Marlins are another team seeking a first Finals championship, having finished Division 1 runner-up in 2013 and placing third but just one point out of second a year ago in Division 2. All eight flights are seeded fifth or higher, with two top seeds and three seconds. The entire singles lineup is back from last year – senior Megan Sullivan at No. 1 (seeded second), followed by juniors Keira Kirkland (seeded second at No. 2), Alexa Dueweke (seeded fifth at No. 3) and Gabby Owens (seeded first at No. 4) – and Owens is the reigning champion at No. 4 while Sullivan was runner-up at No. 1 last season and Kirkland fell in the No. 2 final in three sets. Seniors Penelope Livermore and Reese Sinawi are seeded second at No. 3 doubles after finishing second at No. 4 last year, and freshman Anna Naida and sophomore Olivia Wiljhelm are seeded first at No. 4 this weekend.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples have 13 top-two team finishes over the last 19 seasons, including finishing runners-up last season and in 2022 and Division 2 champion in 2023. Junior Kate Crowley and sophomore Cate French are the team’s lone top seed, at No. 3 doubles, but Seaholm also has five second-seeded flights. Senior Jordyn Lusky and junior Lucy Jen are seeded second at No. 1 doubles after winning No. 3 last season, while junior Anna Olekszyk is teaming with sophomore Sophia Arndt on the second-seeded No. 3 pair and sophomores Katie Joyce and Alina Villaire are teaming up for a second seed at No. 4; Joyce and Olekszyk won the No. 4 championship last spring.
Midland Dow: The Chargers won two Division 1 titles and finished second twice between 2015-18 and are seeking their first top-two Finals team finish since that run; they placed fifth in Division 2 a year ago. Dow is seeded in six flights, with senior Tessa Wood and junior Sachi Togashi on the top line at No. 2 doubles.
Dalina Kokoshi, Grosse Pointe South freshman: She enters her first Finals with a 24-1 record and only loss to Stoney Creek’s Barretto in mid-April.
Andrea Wang, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern senior: Last season’s No. 2 singles champion (and No. 3 runner-up in 2022) is seeded third at No. 1 singles with her only Division 2 loss to Kokoshi at the end of April.
Lauren Jaklitsch & Morgan McKenzie, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern seniors: The top-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles is the reigning champion at No. 2, and Jaklitsch also was part of the No. 2 runner-up as a sophomore.
Additional returning flight champion: Harriet Ogilvie, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern senior (No. 3 singles last season, No. 2 singles this weekend).
LP Division 3 at University of Michigan, Liberty Athletic Club & Chippewa Club
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: After seeing its two-year title run end with a runner-up finish (four points back) last year, Cranbrook is the favorite again with all eight flights seeded and four doubles players back who won championships a year ago. Five flights are seeded first, starting with seniors Ava Clogg and Chiara Martella at No. 1 doubles; Clogg was part of the No. 3 doubles champ in 2022 and Martella the No. 2 singles runner-up in 2023. Seniors Sophia Kouza and Madeline Day are top-seeded at No. 2 doubles – Kouza a champion at No. 2 the last two years and Day part of the winning pair at No. 3 last season – and seniors Michelle Chen and Jessica Hall are second-seeded at No. 3 doubles after winning No. 4 last year and finishing runner-up in 2023. Senior Katelyn Dubrowsky and sophomore Brianna Giudici are seeded first at No. 4 this time. Cranbrook also has the top seeds at the top two singles flights with senior Chloe Qin at No. 1 and freshman Caroline Liu at No. 2. Qin was part of the No. 1 doubles runner-up as a freshman in 2022, and in her return this fall has lost only to Sadowski in early April.
Detroit Country Day: The reigning team champion will play for its third title in five years and with two flight winners returning to the singles lineup – senior Sophia Grzesiak seeking a repeat at No. 1 and junior Helen Benjamin at No. 4 after winning No. 3 last season. Benjamin is seeded first in her flight, and Grzesiak second. The Yellowjackets’ singles lineup also features second-seeded freshman Chloe Conniff at No. 2 and top-seeded Karishma Vakhariya at No. 3, and last season’s No. 2 singles runner-up sophomore Quinn Norlander is teaming with senior Katie Han – last year’s No. 4 singles champion – as the second-seeded No. 1 doubles pair.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: The Mustangs improved from fifth in 2023 to fourth a year ago as they seek their first team title since 2016 in Division 2. All eight flights are seeded again and six flights third or higher led by top-seeded sophomores Stella Glorio and Lexa Hindo at No. 3 doubles. Glorio was part of the No. 4 doubles runner-up last season, and senior Audrey Agbay is joined by senior Alex Freitag as the third-seeded pair at No. 2 doubles after Agbay was part of the runner-up at No. 3 a year ago.
Additional returning flight champion: Samantha Bieber, Chelsea junior (No. 2 last season, No. 1 this weekend).
LP Division 4 at Midland Tennis Center & Midland High School
Top-ranked: No. 1 Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 3. Wixom St. Catherine.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons are seeking a fourth-straight Division 4 championship after claiming last year’s by 11 points. Senior Maddie Morgan and sophomore Ellie Kim are back and seeded first at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, after winning those flights last year (and Morgan winning No. 1 the last two seasons), and three of eight doubles players also were part of flight champions in 2024. Freshman Hazel Morgan at No. 3 and sophomore Nina Malani at No. 4 round out an all top-seeded singles lineup; Malani was part of the No. 1 doubles champ last spring. Senior Shangyang Xia and junior Danica Rakic-Dennis are the top-seeded No. 1 doubles pair after they won the Nos. 3 and 4 singles flights, respectively, a year ago. Junior Lauren Ye and sophomore Alyssa Hong are top-seeded at No. 3 doubles, Ye having partnered with Malani for that No. 1 doubles title and Hong part of last year’s No. 4 champ, and seniors Meera Pandey and Meera Tewari are seeded first at No. 4 this time. The only unseeded flight is No. 2 doubles with seniors Sophia Kleer and Jessica Shi, and Kleer was part of the champion at that flight last season.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: The Fighting Irish are coming off their best Finals finish, placing second last season, and they are seeded fourth or higher at every flight with four second seeds. Among those second seeds are senior Erin Delaney and junior Adriana Johnson at No. 3 doubles after Delaney was part of last season’s champion at that flight. Sophomore Ana Jarvis at No. 3 singles, sophomore Gemma Hofley and freshman Regina Carpenter at No. 2 doubles and freshmen Vanessa Artinian and Elena Vandieren at No. 4 also are second-seeded.
Wixom St. Catherine: The Stars are pursuing a first top-two Finals finish after tying for fifth a year ago. Six flights are seeded, led by senior Lily Wolocko and freshman Loren Nafso on the top line at No. 2 doubles and juniors Julia Ivezaj and Stephanie Lisch second-seeded at No. 1. Ivezaj was part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up in 2023.
Mary-Kate Ansley, Traverse City St. Francis junior: The second-seeded player at No. 1 singles reached the semifinals last season as the fourth seed at the top flight.
PHOTO Farmington Hills Mercy's Keira Kirkland drives a forehand during last season's LPD2 championship match at No. 2 singles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Lessons from Multi-Sport Experience Guide Person in Leading New Team
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
August 1, 2024
PARCHMENT — When Amanda Person was in sixth grade, her family hosted an international student from Japan.
Until then, soccer was the main sport for her family – but that soon changed.
“Naoki wanted to play tennis,” Person said. “He started playing and then my sister (Marissa) started playing, and then I started playing.”
That passion for both sports only increased during her four years at Parchment High School.
“Soccer was really fun, but when I look back on my high school career, tennis was the most prominent thing I remember,” the 2008 grad said. “I think it’s because I played year-round: our regular tennis season and then our summer tennis program and winter tennis program.”
Although it has been 16 years since her glory days at Parchment ended, Person has no trouble recalling the best parts of her Panthers sports career.
In fact, coming up with memories from those days is no problem — she has a folder full of photos called “I Miss Team Sports” on her Facebook page.
Playing intramural soccer at Michigan State University, she graduated with a degree in social work, then stayed in the Big Ten. She is the campus tours and ambassador coordinator at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., where she supervises 80 to 100 student tour guides who provide information for families considering the school.
Her ties to the Spartans sometime makes for interesting conversations with her colleagues.
“They give me a hard time,” she said with a quick laugh. “I say Michigan State will always be my No. 1. That’s my alma mater I spent four years of time, tears and money at Michigan State. But I really love Purdue, so I’ll root for the Boilermakers second.”
She is also working on her master’s degree in higher education at Purdue.
Her office in the welcome center shares space with the alumni association, leading to an unforgettable experience.
During a lunch break, she went home to let out her dog, Tessa. When she returned, a trophy and a bucket were sitting on her desk.
Confused, she asked what they were doing there.
“The tour guides I was working with said (during an event) they had to put them somewhere before putting them out (to the public), so they just put them on my desk,” she said.
Turns out, one trophy was the NCAA Final Four runner-up men’s basketball trophy the Boilermakers took home last year after losing to Connecticut in the championship game.
The other was the Old Oaken Bucket, the trophy that goes to the winner between Purdue and Indiana University’s annual football grudge match.
“I didn’t know anything about the Old Oaken Bucket,” she said. “They were like, what do you mean ‘what is this?’ Then they told me the story behind it.”
Creating core memories
Recalling her years at Parchment, Person becomes animated, smiling and laughing at all the memories.
“The first thing I remember is that my sister was really, really good at soccer,” she said. "I was always trying to keep up with her a bit.”
Her dad, Dave Person, noted that “all of our kids (Adam, Marissa, Amanda) had some success in sports during high school while realizing that it was secondary to their education.
“My only input was that I insisted they treat officials, coaches and opponents with respect, which they did. I always thought that while Marissa did very well in tennis, she was a natural at soccer. Amanda, on the other hand, was very good at soccer, but was a natural at tennis.”
Amanda said her soccer memories come down to “we might not have won a lot, but it was still a lot of fun.”
She said while several on the team, including herself, had years of soccer experience, players also welcomed those who wanted to try the sport for the first time.
“Our team had a home for those people, too,” she said. “The games were always fun, but I feel like a lot of being on a team like that is the outside things you do together: the team dinners, the traveling on the bus, even practices.”
Her freshman year, the team advanced to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Girls Tennis Finals, finishing 19th.
Her senior year was a transition when several sports seasons were switched, putting girls soccer and tennis at the same time during the spring.
Person and the other three two-sport seniors juggled both.
“All of a sudden we were playing soccer and tennis in the spring,” she said. “Thankfully they let us do both, and our coaches were very good in terms (of) making sure nothing important overlapped.”
Person played doubles all four years and was at No. 1 with Kelly Drummond her final two seasons.
“If my memory serves me correctly, I believe we only lost two matches the whole (senior) year, so it was a good year for us,” she said.
It was a very good year.
She and Drummond won their Regional Final, but that ended her prep career since the team did not qualify for championship weekend.
Preparing for life
The best thing about high school tennis, she said, was that it was a combination team and individual sport.
“You can do really well individually and maybe the team doesn’t do well, or maybe the team does well and you don’t do well personally,” she said. “It has the aspect of wanting the entire team to do good.”
Competing in both sports prepared her for the “real” world, she said.
“Playing soccer and tennis and being part of a team helped me cheer other people on,” she said. “The world is a competitive place, so having that foundation of team sports is really good to teach a plethora of things you can use in the real world.
“Even at work, you have your individual job but you’re also part of a team. If one person isn’t doing well, then your whole team isn’t doing well. If someone else is having a hard time, helping them out is helping the team.”
She added that losing also teaches important lessons.
“You’re going to lose at things your entire life,” she said. “Being able to handle losing, handle rejection, is a good skill to have for anything in life. I’ve learned it’s not what happens to you but how you respond to it. That’s a huge lesson. There are a lot of life lessons you can get from playing team sports in high school.”
Her advice to high school athletes today: “Enjoy it, first of all. Don’t take it too seriously in wins and losses.
“When I look back, most of my core memories are being part of a team, having fun with the team, having fun playing the sport. Enjoy your time,” she said.
“Now I miss it.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Parchment’s Amanda Person plays a 2008 tennis match with doubles partner Kelly Drummond; at right, Person and her dog Tessa. (Middle) A pair of beloved trophies sit temporarily on Person’s desk at Purdue. (Below) Person also was a soccer standout at Parchment. (Photos courtesy of Amanda Person.)