Seaholm Dominates in Team Title Repeat, Mattawan's Cheng Makes Finals Dream Come True
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2026
MIDLAND — After being in such firm control, Mattawan senior Ana Cheng admitted there was a sense things were slipping away a bit Thursday.
Mired in the No. 1 singles final against Harriet Ogilvie of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals, the top-seeded Cheng won the first set and was up 4-3 in the second after breaking Ogilvie.
But the second-seeded Ogilvie answered back, winning the next two games to go up 5-4.
“Honestly, I was thinking, ‘I couldn’t have dropped this set? Just win the third,” Cheng said. “Oh goodness. I just thought that I really needed to lock in on my shots and figure out the best plan to win.”
Cheng did that, rallying to win the next three games to earn a 7-5 victory in the second and a straight-set win over Ogilvie, an opponent she also defeated three weeks ago.
Cheng – who will play at the next level at Oberlin College in Ohio – had reached the quarterfinals last season as the seventh seed.
“When you play in high school, this is something you always dream about happening,” Cheng said. “You’re a senior and you always want to win states, so this is a dream come true for me.”
In the team event, it came as little surprise that Birmingham Seaholm repeated as champion and won its third title in four years, given the Maples entered the tournament with top seeds in seven of the eight flights.
Seaholm finished with 33 points, finishing well ahead of Forest Hills Northern and Farmington Hills Mercy, which shared runner-up honors with 22 points apiece.
In the midst of the celebration afterward, it was a big sigh of relief for Seaholm head coach Casey Cullen, who knew his squad was the hunted all season.
“It was all in our heads that, ‘Hey, we need to work harder than we have, because we have a target on our back,’” Cullen said. “I mean, everyone wants to beat us since we won last year. We didn’t want to get complacent. So it was in my head a lot of the days. I think they felt it and worked their butts off, and this is the end result.”
Seaholm advanced to the championship match in five flights and received flight titles from sophomore Devon Rusk at No. 2 singles, junior Sabrina Dunn at No. 4 singles, the team of Cate French and Kate Crowley at No. 3 doubles and the duo of Alina Villager and Jacqueline Supancich at No. 4 doubles.
“It was a total team effort,” Cullen said. “You look at our state seeds, we were the one seed in seven out of eight flights. I’ve never seen that. That’s a testament to how locked in they were during the season. Not a lot of silly losses that screwed up their seeds.”
Even better for Seaholm is there is a core of 11 juniors on the roster who should make a three-peat next year a likely possibility.
“The future is still bright,” Cullen said.
The No. 1 doubles title was captured by Forest Hills Northern’s fourth-seeded team of Clare Knoester and Kylie Hatfield. They defeated Seaholm’s top-seeded tandem of Lucy Jen and Sophia Arndt in the semifinals, bouncing back after losing the first game 6-0 to win 7-6 (4) and 6-2.
The other two flight winners were from Mercy. Senior Scarlett Manchinger claimed the title at No. 2 singles, while Mercy’s team of Anna Naida and Gabby Owens won at No. 2 doubles.
PHOTOS (Top) Birmingham Seaholm’s six flight winners stand together for a photo with the championship trophy Thursday at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Mattawan’s Ana Cheng rallied to win her No. 1 singles championship match in straight sets. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Adams' Fu Hoping to Write Championship Headline After Repeat Finalist Finishes
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 23, 2024
ROCHESTER HILLS — An editor for her school newspaper the last two years, Nicole Fu is one who loves to tell good stories and write good headlines.
A junior at Adams, Fu enjoys getting to know people around the school and giving them a moment in the sun, so to speak.
“I love being able to talk with so many people and learn the stories behind their accomplishments,” Fu said.
It’s ironic, because come the end of next Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Tennis Finals, Fu hopes professional media outlets around the state will talk about her own story of accomplishment, possibly with headlines such as “Redemption Feels Sweet for Fu” or “Third Time is Charm for Adams Tennis Star.”
Both the last two years, Fu has advanced to the championship match at No. 1 singles in Division 1.
But while quite an accomplishment to do so as a freshman and sophomore, she also left somewhat unsatisfied, losing in 2022 to Reese Miller of Ann Arbor Pioneer (6-1, 6-1) and last spring to Sari Woo of Ann Arbor Skyline (6-3, 6-4).
“Being in the final both my freshman and sophomore years has shown me that I have what it takes to win a state championship even when it gets tough,” Fu said. “Last year especially has shown me that I’m not far from the title, and staying strong both mentally and physically is going to be crucial to hopefully winning a state title.”
No doubt, Fu should be one of the top contenders, if not the favorite.
She enters with an 18-0 record and has brilliantly handled opponents attempting to give her their best performances.
“Her ability to handle the pressure has improved a lot,” Adams head coach Greg Burks said. “She has matured as a top-level player and competes as well as any player I’ve ever had.”
Fu actually said she got her start in tennis a little later than most. After dabbling in soccer and swimming, Fu started playing tennis at age 10 when one of her mom’s co-workers gave her a foam ball and a kids racquet.
“Then I started hitting against our living room wall, and one day my mom asked if I wanted to take an actual tennis lesson,” Fu said.
From there, Fu started playing in tournaments, and the tennis bug bit her.
“I really loved competing in matches, so I didn’t stop and it ended up being very rewarding,” she said.
Fu also has an accomplished hitting partner in twin sister Katie, who lost in the championship match at No. 2 singles last year.
“She’s always a great hitting partner, and it’s really nice to have someone who understands the sport and what it takes to balance that out with everything else,” Nicole Fu said. “She’s basically my second brain too, so having her around during the season is super fun and helpful for keeping me in check.”
Fu has a collegiate future in the sport, having committed in November to play tennis at the U.S. Naval Academy.
“Obviously the education is extraordinary, and attending a service academy builds your character both physically and mentally and sets you up to make an impact on the nation,” Fu said.
When it comes to next week’s MHSAA Tournament, Fu obviously is aiming to make another impact at the championship level – but this time finish the quest she fell short of the last two years.
“This year as a back-to-back finalist and a strong favorite has put a lot of pressure on me to win my matches,” she said. “So there’s definitely a lot of expectations for this season, and managing that was a little bit tough in the beginning of the season. But over time I’ve kind of learned to embrace it, and it’s given me more confidence in my matches knowing I’m the player people are aiming to beat.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Adams' Nicole Fu returns a volley during last season's No. 1 singles championship match at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Fu, left, congratulates Ann Arbor Skyline's Sari Woo after their match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)