Redemption Reigns for D1 Champions
June 2, 2018
By John Walker
Special for Second Half
MIDLAND — Bloomfield Hills junior Tia Mukherjee got redemption, while the Northville girls tennis team eked out another title Saturday at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at the Greater Midland Tennis Center.
Mukherjee dominated for a 6-0, 6-0 win over Northville senior Shanoli Kumar in the championship match at No. 1 singles. Mukherjee lost 6-0, 6-0 last year in the finals to Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Kari Miller, and said that was motivation.
“It feels great after last year,” Mukherjee said. “That was tough. I didn’t want that to happen again. I was more prepared.
“I improved my fitness and my forehand. I did a lot of off-court conditioning. I didn’t have enough energy going into the finals last year.”
Bloomfield Hills coach Chris Dobson agreed.
“Her fitness level is better,” he said. “Plus another year of maturity, poise and confidence. It makes a difference. She was highly motivated coming in.”
“At the end of the day, Tia was amazing,” Northville coach Linda Jones said.
“I thought she is the best player in the state,” Dobson said, “and she proved it. She played her best match and earned it.”
Northville had to earn its title, too, edging Midland Dow 32-30. Bloomfield Hills was third with 28 points.
The Mustangs shared last year’s title with Dow. Dow won the 2016 title. Northville won in 2015. The two were at it again in 2018.
Northville entered Saturday with 24 points and eight players in the semifinals for the first time in school history. Dow had 23 points with seven players, as did Bloomfield Hills.
Northville won key semifinals matches against Dow at No. 2 and No. 3 singles and advanced six to the finals. Dow advanced five, while Bloomfield Hills advanced three and dropped from contention.
In the finals, Northville and Dow faced off at Nos. 1, 3 and 4 doubles. Dow got the first victory, at No. 3 doubles, and briefly tied the score with a win at No. 2 doubles. But Northville prevailed in the other head-to-head matches, clinching the crown with the win at No. 4 doubles.
“It’s so sweet,” Northville’s Jones said. “This year we lost three important seniors and were seeded No. 2 all season behind Dow. We came in as underdogs. The girls just played over their levels. It’s the most satisfying (title). Three-time state champs is not too bad.”
“Absolutely there’s disappointment,” Dow coach Garrett Turner said, “which is a good thing, I guess. It means we’re doing the right things. We win one of those matches and the nerves are shifted to them. It’s hard to be upset with a second-place finish. We had our chances.”
At No. 2 singles, Ann Arbor Huron junior Miriam Gandam, the No. 1 seed, defeated Northville sophomore Tori Mady, the No. 2 seed, 2-6, 6-0, 6-1. Mady, the 2017 champ at No. 4 singles, got a key semifinals win over Dow’s Zoe Angell, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
At No. 3 singles, Ann Arbor Skyline senior Caroline Cartwright, the No. 2 seed, defeated Northville junior Renee Torres, the No. 4 seed, 6-3, 6-2. Torres, the returning champ at No. 3 singles, upset Dow’s Sarah Ismail, the No. 1 seed and returning champ at No. 2 singles, in a key semifinal match, 6-3, 6-4.
At. No. 4 singles, Jenna Silverman, the No. 1 seed, rallied past Dow senior Hadley Camp, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1) in a 2-hour, 57-minute match. Silverman also rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win in the semifinals over Northville’s Maya Mulchanandani. Camp was the Finals runner-up for the third straight year.
At No. 1 doubles, Northville senior Serena Wang and junior Sophie Zhuang, the No. 1 seed, defeated Dow seniors Tatum Matthews and Kelly Livingston, the No. 2 seed, 6-1, 6-4.
At No. 2 doubles, Dow junior Meghan Killmaster and sophomore Victoria Leiti, the No. 3 seed, defeated Bloomfield Hills senior Alandria Bellamy and sophomore Kaela Bernard, the No. 4 seed, 6-2, 6-2.
At No. 3 doubles, Dow seniors Giacomina Fabiano and Christina Vanderkelen, the No. 3 seed, defeated Northville junior Madison DeYoung and freshman Michelle Tong, the No. 4 seed, 6-2, 6-3.
At No. 4 doubles, Northville junior Connie Gao and freshman Sneha Ganan, the No. 2 seed, defeated Dow juniors Amelie Kraef and Reema Patel, the No. 1 seed, 6-4, 7-6 (1). Kraef and Patel came into Saturday without losing a set all season but had to rally for a 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 win in the semifinals.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills' Tia Mukherjee prepares to return a shot during her No. 1 singles match Saturday. (Middle) Northville poses with its latest MHSAA Finals trophy. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Unexpected Doubles Champ Helps Spark West Iron County to 14th Finals Win
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
October 1, 2025
KINGSFORD — West Iron County is used to competing for Upper Peninsula tennis titles. Going into Wednesday’s Division 2 Finals, the Wykons had finished first or second 31 times at the season-concluding event.
The Wykons won their 14th championship after finishing runner-up three of the previous four years. They won five of the eight flights in Kingsford to finish ahead of Norway, which won the other three flights, and Ishpeming. Both finished five points behind West Iron, tied for second place.
“Amazing, absolutely amazing what they pulled off,” WIC coach Jen Schive said. “We won some, we lost some, but in the end, we are a team and we’re a U.P. championship team. I’m pretty proud of that. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them today.”
West Iron finished with victories at No. 1 and 3 singles along with 1, 2 and 4 doubles. That 4 doubles team may have impressed their coach the most.
They weren’t expected to win, but Marlee Benson and Rochelle Bear advanced through all three matches of the day, capping it with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ironwood’s Lily Magdziak and Lucy Stehlik in the final.
“I’m really proud of everybody that got a title, but this 4 doubles team, wow did they step up today,” Schive said. “I think I told them a hundred times, ‘I can’t believe it. You did it.’”
She didn’t settle on 3 and 4 doubles teams until about midway through the season. Both pairs learned to play together in a hurry.
“Having them win a U.P. title is huge, absolutely huge,” she said.
They were pretty happy as well.
“It’s unreal,” Benson said.
The No. 4 pair lost the first set 6-2. Bear said their mindset was just to put that behind them and move on to the next.
“I don’t even know, I’m amazed right now,” she said of winning.
WIC’s Grace Smith picked up a dominating win at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-0 over Norway’s Jordyn Moln.
“I’m proud of myself. I worked hard for it,” Smith said. “I’m a sophomore, but last year I lost.”
That was in the final at No. 2 singles. Smith took her sister Kaitlyn’s spot at the stop flight after Kaitlyn won as a senior last year.
“She stepped in, and she seems to be filling the role just fine,” Schive said. “She has an excellent little short shot, she can switch up her game, which is nice. I just know she’s ready to keep on with a very successful tennis career.”
Schive said Smith was worried about Ironwood’s Jacinta Lauzon in the semifinals because of their competitive matches during the regular season, but she won those sets 6-4, 6-2.
“There were times where she doubted herself, but I did not,” Schive said. “I knew she had what she needed. Just making sure she had the confidence, the mentality, to know herself. Very proud of her.”
West Iron’s Destiny Lemery and Aubrey Richardson won the No. 1 doubles final 6-3, 6-0 over Ishpeming’s Stella Nerlfi and Ava Lapin.
“Destiny had some good net shots and some hard hits down the alley and the line. And her serves were good,” Richardson said.
“(Richardson) does really good alley shots and angle shots,” Lemery added.
Schive said they play well together and communicate, and it translated into a great year for them. As for what they did well Wednesday — “Oh the net,” she said. “I’ve been telling them all year — ’Put it away, put it away, save yourself some energy.’ And they did that, they did just that, beautiful net game.”
West Iron’s No. 2 doubles team of Julia White and Olivia LaMay won 6-3, 6-2 over the Hematites’ Lilly Ryan and Janelle Seelen.
“I have Julia who is a beautiful long stroke, she can get it, and Olivia in the right place at the right time, she can take care of it at the net,” Schive said.
Erin Kolbas made it two titles at singles for West Iron, clinching at the No. 3 flight. She defeated Ishpeming’s Frankie Stetson 7-6 (1), 6-4 in the final.
“It’s been a long journey,” Kolbas said. “I tore my ACL and meniscus last year. Not playing last year and then now playing this year, it’s been a long road.”
Norway took the other three wins, at 2 and 4 singles and 3 doubles. Ella Wojtowicz defeated Ishpeming’s Sophia Nerlfi 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2.
“It’s nice because it took four years,” Wojtowicz said. “Lots of tries, lots of losing, but I got there. My goal this year was just to make myself proud, it wasn’t really to win anything. But winning is a plus.”
Her coach, Cassandra Gustafson, was happy to see her career end with a championship.
“She has had some ups and downs over the years, but she has really put in a lot of work in the offseason to get where she’s at, so I’m really proud of her,” Gustafson said.
Jessa Rossler took the final match at No. 4 singles 6-4, 6-2 over Ishpeming’s Camryn Miller.
“I won last year, too, so I was really hoping I would this year,” Rossler said. “At first, I kept hitting it to the net with the wind; it was kind of hard to judge it. But once I got used to that, I think I hit some better shots and it turned out well.”
Norway’s No. 3 doubles team of Emily Carlson and Myah Gilroy defeated Ishpeming’s Lydia Seelen and Jenessa Eagle 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the final. The matchup was similar to last year’s when Norway’s duo lost to Lydia and Janelle Seelen in the final.
“They really wanted it,” Gustafson said. “They really wanted it bad. They’ve been playing together two years straight, so they’re solid and jelled together.”
PHOTOS (Top) West Iron County celebrates its UPD2 championship Wednesday at Kingsford High School. (Middle) Ishpeming’s Stella Nerlfi gets to a ball at the net at No. 1 doubles. (Below) Norway's Jordyn Moln sends a volley during a No. 1 singles match. (Photos by Jason Juno.)