Westwood, Munising Star Shine Again
September 28, 2017
By Ryan Stieg
Special for Second Half
ISHPEMING – The Westwood girls tennis team has built a dynasty in the Upper Peninsula, and on Wednesday, it added another title to its trophy case.
It wasn’t easy though. After sharing the title with Munising last season, the Patriots had to hold off Iron River West Iron County at the end and edged the Wykons by one point at 17-16 for the Division 2 championship. Westwood has won eight of the last nine U.P. titles in its division.
“This was just a successful year,” Westwood head coach Chris Jackson said. “Heading into this year, we had to replace nine girls and we weren’t sure where we would be. I think most people thought this was going to be a rebuilding year, but we had some girls step up big for us.”
Munising took third at the meet with 10 points followed by Iron Mountain (8) and Ishpeming (5).
Westwood was led by its doubles teams as it won three of the four final matches including a three-set thriller by the tandem of Karlie Kargela and Karlie Patron at No. 1 (7-5, 4-6, 6-4). The Patriots also had two-set wins at both No. 3 with Hailey Mattila and Katelyn Anttila and No. 4 with Ellie Miller and Kaylee Larmour, while West Iron’s Emily Nelson and Avery Bosiek took the No. 2 match.
For West Iron County, it was a disappointing day as the Wykons were in six of the final eight matches but only picked up two victories. West Iron was in a similar situation last season and head coach Joe Serbentas said his team was determined to make up for that this year. However, it just wasn’t meant to be.
“We were disappointed last year, so the girls worked really hard to get back here and they wanted it badly,” Serbentas said. “I thought we really put ourselves in a good spot with seeds today to come out and win.”
On the singles side of the court, it was Munising’s time to shine. The Mustangs won the Nos. 1 and 2 matches thanks to strong performances by the Ackerman sisters, Marissa and Kelsea. Marissa won the No. 1 match over West Iron’s Katarina Serbentas, and Kelsea defeated Iron Mountain’s Jordan Stoner in the No. 2 competition. Marissa hasn’t lost a match in three years.
“Our singles have been the strength of our lineup all year,” Munising head coach Rod Gendron said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough depth today with doubles to win the title, but I’m very proud of how the girls competed. They’ve had some tough matches and on days like this, people are playing their best, so it’s not easy to win.”
Gendron also praised both Ackerman girls and explained how even though they may be related, their styles are completely different on the court.
“They both have a lot of experience and they both have been U.P. champs, so they know what it takes,” he said. “They do not give up no matter what the score is. They keep fighting and they make you earn everything. Marissa is a little more competitive, while Kelsea has nicer strokes. Marissa will do anything to win like throwing lobs or ugly shots while Kelsea is a more classic style player with good strokes and a strong serve. That’s the big difference between the two.”
Westwood and West Iron split the other two matches. West Iron’s Izzy Hoogenboom won the No. 3 match over Munising’s Kennedy Tate, while Westwood’s Tessa Leece took the No. 4 match over West Iron’s Anna Malmquist.
“Tessa hasn’t gotten a lot of publicity this year, and that’s hard as a No. 4 because everyone wants to talk about the No. 1s,” Jackson said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody as composed as Tessa. No matter what the scenario, she maintains her composure, competes at a high level and learns from her mistakes.”
Ishpeming’s lone appearance in the finals was at No. 3 doubles where Audrey Stetson and MaKenzie VanBuren fell to Mattila and Anttila. Even though it wasn’t the day they were hoping for, Hematites head coach Erl Langness saw some positives in his team’s performance.
“We won the spots where we had seeds,” he said. “Madison Pruett had an excellent match against the girl from Munising (Marissa Ackerman) and our No. 1 doubles also had a good day. They lost to West Iron in three sets. It was a pretty good day. We would’ve like to do better, but we did okay. I think we’ve made a lot of progress since the beginning of the year.”
In the end though, the day belonged to Westwood. And even though the outcome came down to the wire, Jackson liked it that things turned out that way.
“Close matches like these make the tournament fun,” he said. “It came down to how the finals went, and that’s how it should be.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Munising's Marissa Ackerman returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match Wednesday at the U.P. Division 2 Finals. (Middle) Westwood's Karlie Kargela returns a shot at No. 1 doubles. (Photos by Rachel Oakley.)
Preview: Reigning Champions Seeking Repeat Performances at Midland Tennis Center
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 26, 2026
As with the MHSAA boys championship tournaments this past fall, the Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals over the next two weeks will have a new look – although familiarity reigns as last year’s four team champions are the favorites again in their respective divisions.
Northville, Birmingham Seaholm, Detroit Country Day and Ann Arbor Greenhills will look to maintain their supremacy all at Midland Tennis Center, beginning with Division 4 today and Thursday, followed by Division 1 this Friday and Saturday, and then Division 2 on June 3 and 4 and Division 3 over June 5 and 6.
Below are details on those top-ranked teams and more contenders to watch during all four Finals:
Division 1
Top-ranked: 1. Northville, 2. Utica Eisenhower, 3. Novi.
Northville is the reigning champion, and Utica Eisenhower has finished second the last two seasons and is seeking its first title. Northville claimed last year’s team trophy by just a point, and third-place Novi was only four back of the lead and also enters this weekend seeking a first Finals championship.
Northville: The Mustangs will pursue a repeat with six seeded flights and potentially powered by doubles with juniors Sravya Doppalapudi and Francine Ong seeded first at No. 2 and senior Michelle Lee and junior Emma Murphy seeded first at No. 4. All four doubles pairs are seeded third or higher, as is sophomore Grace Xu at No. 3 singles. Doppalapudi and Ong were champions at No. 3 doubles last season, Murphy was part of the No. 4 champion, juniors Lucia Lachapelle and Aadya Pullalarevu were runners-up at No. 2 and are second-seeded at No. 3 this time, and junior Emmi Dober is part of the third-seeded No. 1 pair after finishing second at No. 3 singles in 2025.
Utica Eisenhower: The Eagles just missed a first title last year, and they are loaded especially at singles with six flights total seeded for the weekend. Senior Gabriella Sadowski is seeded second at No. 1 singles after winning the flight as a sophomore and finishing runner-up a year ago. Sophomore Morgan Emerick is seeded first at No. 2 and the reigning champion in that bracket, and senior Sofia Gardner is seeded second at No. 4. Sadowski and Emerick are undefeated this spring. Senior Alexis Gabriel has been part of No. 1 and No. 2 doubles champions over the last two seasons and is seeded fourth at No. 1 this time with junior Kara Lu.
Ann Arbor Pioneer: The Pioneers were ranked No. 4 in the most recent poll and seeded to make a move after finishing seventh a year ago. They are seeded at all four singles flights and two doubles flights, with sophomores Maryn Etheridge and Ayla Altinsel the top seed at No. 3 doubles.
Saline senior Emerson Jones: She’s the top seed at No. 1 singles and 18-0 in her only season playing high school tennis, with 11 wins (including her last four) by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
Clarkston junior Kayla Lemke: The third seed at No. 1 singles is 20-2 with her only losses to Saline’s Jones and Eisenhower’s Sadowski.
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek junior Larissa Yoshino/sophomore Yousong Choi: The top-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles is 19-1 with its only loss in three sets to Eisenhower’s Gabriel and Lu.
Division 2
Top-ranked: 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 3. Farmington Hills Mercy.
Reigning champion Seaholm has won two of the last three titles and finished first or second the last four seasons. Forest Hills Northern most recently won this tournament in 2024 and owns three of the five championships in Division 2 this decade. Mercy finished runner-up to Seaholm last year and is seeking its first team Finals title in this sport.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples will be tough to catch with seven top-seeded flights – sophomore Devon Rusk at No. 2 singles, junior Sabrina Dunn at No. 3, junior Izzy Bloom at No. 4, senior Lucy Jen and junior Sophia Arndt at No. 1 doubles, senior Anna Olekszyk and junior Katie Joyce at No. 2, junior Cate French and senior Kate Crowley at No. 3 and junior Alina Villaire and senior Jacqueline Supancich the top-seeded No. 4 pair. Senior Jada Josifovski is the sixth-seeded player at No. 1 singles and won No. 2 a year ago. Olekszyk and Arndt won No. 2 doubles last spring, Crowley and French won No. 3, Joyce and Villaire won No. 4 and Jen was part of the runner-up at No. 1. Bloom was the runner-up at No. 4 singles in 2025.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies finished third a year ago and will make a run at the top spots led by four second-seeded flights – senior Harriet Ogilvie at No. 1 singles, sophomore Audrey Kowatch at No. 4, sophomore Hayla Messelink and senior Hailey Pfeiffle at No. 3 doubles and senior Maddie Decker and freshman Mercedes Acevedo at No. 4. Senior Ava Targosz and sophomore Sadie Wolfe are seeded fifth at No. 2 doubles after finishing runner-up at No. 4 last year.
Farmington Hills Mercy: The Marlins will look to make up seven points from last year’s runner-up finish with five flights seeded among the top three in their respective brackets. Seniors Alexa Dueweke and Scarlett Manchinger are second seeds at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, and sophomore Anna Naida and senior Gabby Owens are second-seeded at No. 2 doubles. Owens was the champion at No. 4 singles last season, and senior Keira Kirkland was the runner-up at No. 2 and is seeded third at No. 1 this weekend.
Ana Cheng, Mattawan senior: The top-seeded player at No. 1 singles is 24-2 with a win over Ogilvie just two weeks ago but a loss to Kirkland at the start of May. Cheng reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 last season as the seven seed.
Division 3
Top-ranked: 1. Detroit Country Day, 2. East Grand Rapids, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Country Day is seeking to run its latest championship streak to three, and East Grand Rapids in 2009 is the last team not Country Day or Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood to win the Division 3 title. The Pioneers are seeking to make a jump from sixth last season. Marian finished third a year ago and most recently won a championship in 2016 in Division 2.
Detroit Country Day: Five top seeds will lead the Yellowjackets’ pursuit. Sophomore Chloe Conniff is on the top line at No. 1 singles after finishing second at No. 2 last year, and sophomore Karishma Vakhariya is the top seed at No. 2 coming off the championship at No. 3. Junior Quinn Norlander and senior Helen Benjamin are top-seeded at No. 1 doubles and familiar with this stage as well; Benjamin has won two singles titles including at No. 4 last season, and Norlander was part of last spring’s No. 1 doubles runner-up. Sophomore Grace Kalkanis was part of the No. 4 champion last season and is seeded first at No. 2 with sophomore Zoe Bergg, and senior Jiya Gill and sophomore Zoe Grebinski are top-seeded at No. 4 this time. Sophomore Addie Grebinski is seeded third at No. 3 singles and senior Noor Mahmoud is part of the third-seeded pair at No. 3 doubles after they teamed up to finish runner-up at No. 2 doubles in 2025.
East Grand Rapids: Seven of eight EGR flights are seeded, and all seven are seeded fourth or higher with freshman Evelyn Gingras leading the way on the top line at No. 3 singles. Sophomore Mia Owings also is forecasted to play for a flight championship as the second seed at No. 4 singles.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: Seven flights are seeded and with several championship match expectations. Freshman Gwen Slapak is the top seed at No. 4 singles, with senior Emerson Turkot and junior Stella Glorio the second seed at No. 2 doubles, freshman Emerson Villalba and junior Lexa Hindo second-seeded at No. 3 and juniors Lizzie Plunkett and Clare Reaume the second seed at No. 4. Glorio and Hindo were the champions at No. 3 last season.
Henley Honholt, Grand Rapids Christian sophomore: The second seed at No. 1 singles is 16-1 with her only loss to Country Day’s Conniff. Honholt reached the semifinals as the third seed last season.
Lilah Zaskowski, Ada Forest Hills Eastern junior: After reaching the quarterfinals last season as the sixth seed, she’s back as the third in the No. 1 singles bracket with three of her four loses to Honholt or Conniff.
Division 4
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 3. Allegan.
Greenhills has won the last four Division 4 championships, and Notre Dame Prep has finished second the last two seasons – which have been the Fighting Irish’s highest Finals finishes as they continue to pursue a first title. Allegan is seeking its first as well and has four runner-up finishes, its most recent in 2013 in Division 3.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: Junior Nina Malani at No. 1 singles and freshman Jahan Soofi at No. 4 are on the top lines of their respective brackets, and similarly seniors Danica Rakic-Dennis and Lauren Ye are seeded first at No. 1 doubles and senior Aoife Tang and sophomore Linnea Bengtson are the top seed at No. 4. The other four flights are seeded second or third in their brackets. Malani won No. 4 singles last season and sophomore Hazel Morgan is seeded third at No. 2 this time after winning No. 3 in 2025. Rakic-Dennis was part of the champion at No. 1 doubles and Ye part of the winning pair at No. 3 last spring with junior Alyssa Hong, who is joined by junior Jessica Lou on the third-seeded No. 2 doubles pair.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: The Irish will attempt to cut into Greenhills’ advantage led by sophomores Vanessa Artinian and Regina Carpenese holding down the top seed at No. 2 doubles and senior Nina Shanidze seeded second at No. 3 singles. Artinian was part of the No. 4 doubles champion last year – with sophomore Elena Vandieren, who is playing No. 1 doubles with sophomore Adriana Dedukaj – and senior Adriana Johnson was part of the runner-up at No. 3 and with freshman Adrienne Hofley is seeded sixth at that flight this time. Junior Ana Jarvis is playing No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 3 a year ago.
Allegan: The Tigers are seeded at six flights and especially powerful in doubles. Seniors Sophia Augustine and Emma Scheffler are the top seed at No. 3, with junior Ireland Dewey and senior Madison Cook the second seed at No. 1 and seniors Taylor Fuller and Hanna Kievit second-seeded at No. 2.
Sonya Jayakar, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett sophomore: After opening this season with a pair of defeats – including the first to Malani – Jayakar has run off 12 straight wins. She reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 while unseeded as a freshman.
Eliana McClellan, Traverse City St. Francis junior: She finished runner-up at No. 2 singles last season, and her only losses this spring were during the first event – against Malani and Saline’s Jones.
PHOTO Detroit Country Day's Quinn Norlander gets to a ball near the net during the 2025 Division 3 Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)