Rivalry Swings Back to Westwood as Patriots Earn 1st Finals Title Since 2021
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
October 1, 2026
NEGAUNEE — Ishpeming Westwood and Negaunee are 10 minutes apart, so they play plenty of tennis against each other whether it’s routine dual meets or the bigger ones with conference and Upper Peninsula championships on the line.
The Miners have been the one winning those meaningful meets lately with the last four U.P. Division 1 titles to their name.
This, however, was Westwood’s year.
The Patriots won the U.P. Finals on Tuesday for the first time since 2021, the last championship before Negaunee’s streak started, with wins in five of the day’s eight flights.
Their mentality was the key to their success this year, coach Sarah Zindler said, and it showed in the way they went up against the Miners.
“They weren’t scared to play Negaunee; they were excited to play Negaunee,” she said. “They were up for the challenge, they wanted to compete. When they were down in a match, they had that mentality of, ‘I can still win this,’ not the defeated (attitude) after you lose a point. That can sometimes be hard, especially for seniors on a U.P. Finals day where they know it’s their last matches.”
Eliisa Doney is one of those seniors. She talked about seeing Negaunee lifting up trophies in front of them in recent years. So, yeah, this one felt pretty good.
But regardless of the rivalry, she won at No. 2 singles after playing doubles the majority of her career. Her last memories of high school tennis at Westwood are pretty good.
“I’ve never been (a U.P. champion) individually or as a team before, so it’s an incredible feeling that I’ve never felt before,” she said.
Doney played doubles as an underclassmen, missed her junior year with an injury and then filled a spot as Westwood battled other injuries this season. She beat Negaunee’s Addie Chapman 6-2, 7-5 in their flight final Wednesday.
“She just took on the challenge and her first couple matches were a little rocky, but she had that competitive attitude of, ‘I’m gonna figure it out,’” Zindler said. “And now she’s a U.P. champ.”
So are many of her teammates.
Westwood’s Emmi Carlson won No. 3 singles and finished the season with just one loss. Despite that, she trailed Negaunee’s Lucy Rogers 5-2 in the first set of the final.
“And she told us, ‘I got this, I’m gonna win this set 7-5,’” Zindler said. “And she won the set 7-5. And that’s how she’s been all season. If she loses three or four games, she’s like, ‘It’s fine, no big deal, I got this.’”
Carlson won 7-5, 6-2.
Westwood’s Isabel Belpedio beat Negaunee’s Katie Carlson in their final to become the No. 4 singles champion. Belpedio went undefeated in her first year on varsity.
“I played a calm, consistent game,” she said. “I just played my best, and I gave what I had. It feels pretty great … like all the hard work I put in definitely (paid) off.”
“She has also just been steady and confident and knows how to play her game, doesn’t try to do too much and doesn’t let the other girls get in her head,” Zindler added.
The No. 3 doubles team of Emerson Williams and Samiah LaFreniere came out on top over Negaunee’s Bree Helppi and Audrey Hahn in their final despite entering as the third seed. They had lost to Negaunee just last week.
Williams was a part of the winning No. 4 doubles team last year. Since then, she suffered an injury and had to play this entire season left-handed, which is her non-dominant hand.
“They played a great semifinal match, and then in finals just looked like they were confident. They played the net well, they played smart from the back,” Zindler said. “They weren’t the unexpected victory but the wild card that we really needed today for our team.”
The winning No. 4 doubles team was Westwood’s freshmen Jenna Marana and Brie Mahaffey, who just picked up a racket during the summer.
“From the start of the season until now, they have just continually grown and improved,” Zindler said. “I just kept saying, ‘You guys are going to be there, you just got to keep working on it.’ And today, they're the best four doubles team.”
Kingsford junior Aubrie Moore repeated as a U.P. champion with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win over Escanaba’s Anna Martin at No. 1 singles.
“I’m feeling good, I’m really happy and I’m glad,” Moore said. “It’s my second year, so I’m just really proud of myself. I think I really improved on my serving, and my forehand has gotten a lot better.”
Moore and the entire team played with “We play for her,” shirts with the initials GM in honor of her mom Ginger, who died after battling cancer earlier this year.
“Obviously my mom was by my side the whole time and helped me get through this and win,” Moore said.
Negaunee’s No. 1 doubles team of Paige O’Donnell and Olivia Richards won as juniors.
O’Donnell said Marquette has been tough for them and she was focused on doing well in their match to help out their entire team.
“We played Marquette a couple times, it’s always been super competitive, always super back and forth, usually going to some tiebreakers,” Richards said. “We were kind of expecting that going into it, but we saw their weaknesses in the first set and we knew we had to capitalize on those while also working together.”
Negaunee’s Maia Brunette and Aubrey Harper defeated Escanaba’s Isabella Noblet and Lily Benetti for the No. 2 doubles title.
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming Westwood’s Eliisa Doney sends a forehand during a match Wednesday at No. 2 singles. (Middle) Kingsford’s Aubrie Moore returns a volley at No. 1 singles. (Below) Marquette’s Charlotte Thomsen reaches out to return a shot. (Photos by Jason Juno.)
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.)