Sacred Heart, Moyer Cap Familiar Climb
June 2, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
NOVI – This might have been the third time in her four-year high school career that Kalamazoo Hackett senior Natalie Moyer was in this spot.
But that doesn’t mean nerves still weren’t a factor when she advanced to the No. 1 singles championship match at the MHSAA Division 4 Finals on Saturday.
“At first I was a little nervous and was playing like I was nervous,” Moyer said. “I just kind of calmed down and played with confidence. Just played my game.”
Moyer definitely did that against Taylor Smith of Jackson Lumen Christi, surviving the first set with a 6-4 win before rolling to a 6-0 win in the second to claim her second Finals championship.
As a sophomore, Moyer won the title at No. 2 singles, but it was another match that was most on her mind Saturday.
Last season, Moyer lost in the championship match at No. 1 singles to Smith by scores of 6-2, 6-2, something that fueled Moyer all offseason and throughout an unbeaten regular season that saw her enter this weekend as the No. 1 seed at the flight (Smith was No. 2).
“I was really motivated to get the state title this year,” said Moyer, who will play in college at Xavier University. “That’s what I wanted all season.”
While Moyer ruled the day individually, the team portion of the tournament belonged to a traditional power.
It felt weird for Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart to not win the crown last season after winning it all four of the previous five years. But Sacred Heart easily returned to the top perch in the state.
The Gazelles scored 32 points, seven ahead of Traverse City St. Francis and 12 ahead of Jackson Lumen Christi, the top-ranked team heading into the tournament.
Sacred Heart entered the postseason ranked No. 2, but coach Judy Hehs said that didn’t provide her team any extra motivation.
“We don’t talk about the rankings,” Hehs said. “We play a really tough schedule, and we don’t understand what it means to play Division 4 schools. They know the Catholic League and they know the independent schools. When we get here, 50 percent of the teams, they don’t know. We don’t talk about rankings.”
Sacred Heart saw Reagan Beatty win the flight title at No. 3 singles with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Taylor Kennedy of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, and the Gazelles dominated the doubles portion of the competition winning all four flights.
Sara Gerard and Annie Keating at No. 1 doubles, Nolwenn Crosnier and Kelleigh Keating at No. 2, Kathryn Monahan and Serena Seneker at No. 3 and the team of Hannah Kakos and Kate Myers and No. 4 doubles all brought home flight championships.
“Every flight on this team this year did what they had to do,” Hehs said. “Everyone contributed.”
Maggie Ketels of Hackett won the title at No. 2 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Oriana Gulvesan of Ann Arbor Greenhills, and Paige Davies of St. Francis won the No. 4 singles title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Hannah Hodgson of Monroe St. Mary.
In search of its first MHSAA Finals team title in this sport, St. Francis finished as the runner-up for the third time in four years – but this year had a more uplifting feel to it than the others.
“We feel really good about it,” Gladiators coach Paul Bandrowski said. “We were 16th last year, and we lost a lot of seniors. We came back and jumped from 16th all the way back to second. We have a lot of young players.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Kalamazoo Hackett's Natalie Moyer fires a shot during her No. 1 singles Quarterfinal. (Middle) Academy of the Sacred Heart's Reagan Beatty volleys during a No. 3 singles match for the eventual team champion. (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.)