Monthly Archive for October, 2008

State Tournament Results – 4th Place – Congratulations, Boys!

Ann Arbor Greenhills- 30 pts.
Lansing Catholic – 28 pts.
Lumen Christi – 26 pts
Williamston – 24 pts.

4th PLACE FINISH!

A Few great notes:
1.  Highest Williamston Boy’s Tennis team has ever placed at a state meet!
2.  Highest ranked public school in Division 4!!
3.  Had 4 flights in the semi-finals!  Most ever by a boy’s team!
4.  Had 3 flights in the finals!!  First time we ever had a flight in the finals, and this time we had 3!!
5.  First state champ at a flight for the first time in Williamston history!  Ian Sheet at #2 singles!!

We knew going into this tournament it was going to be a 4 team state meet.  Between the top 4, we all have a very close head to head record.  Lots of ties between the top four teams!!  Unfortunately, the other 3 teams had that extra edge in points and extra wins to come up ahead of us.  All our doubles teams lost in very close matches with most of them going 3 sets.   While 3 of our singles flights got to the finals!!

For once, I can honestly say we played like champions to the end.  Everybody raised their game for this tournament.  Everybody played tough the entire tournament. Even when we lost, the players held their head up and knew they played their best.  As their coach, I was very proud of their performance as we did not make it easy for anybody, win or lose!   This was their first time I felt that we played strong top to bottom, match to match!  We were a few close matches away from possibly winning it all!

Individual Results:
1st Singles – Peter Sienko lost in the finals to Ann Arbor Greenhills.  He won a fantastic 3 set match against Elk Rapids in the semi-finals to advance!
2nd Singles – Ian Sheets won it all, playing against Lumen Christi in the finals.
3rd Singles – Brett Graham lost in the finals to Lumen Christi, he won a very tough match in the semi-finals to Lansing Catholic, a player he lost to twice before at Regionals and Leagues.
4th Singles- Nathan Fedewa lost in the Quarterfinals in a very close 3 set match against Ann Arbor Greenhills.

1st Doubles- Bartrem/Taylor lost in the Quarterfinals in 3 sets to North Muskegon
2nd Doubles- Frenzel/Bennet lost a very close two set match  in the Quarterfinals to a Greenhills team.
3rd Doubles – Hall/Johnson lost a very close 3 set match in the Quarterfinals  to a Lumen Christi team.
4th Doubles-  Pueppke/McGuire- Being the only team not seeded for Williamston, they actually got the farthest of all the doubles teams.  They reached the semi-finals beating the #6 seed from North Muskegon, then the #3 seed from Liggett.  Their semi final match was against Ann Arbor Greenhills which they lost in a very close 3 set match.

As you can see, all our loses were very close and respectable.  It could have gone in many directions for us, but in the end it is what it is, and we were all proud of our team, and how we played all weekend!

Coach Phil

CAAC White Division Tournament – on the Road to States!

Portland, MI.  The Williamston tennis team traveled to Portland on Thursday, October 2, 2008, to compete in the CAAC White Division Tournament.  The team results by points were Lansing Catholic 38, Williamston 33, Portland 25, Lakewood 15, and Corunna 9.

“We were tied with Lansing Catholic going into the championships because of our 4-4 dual match against them last month,” said Coach Phil Brillantes.  “The dual match results count for half of the league title and the League Tournament the other half.  Seeing that Lansing Catholic won the Tournament, they rightfully won Leagues this year,” he added.

Individual Results:
1st Singles- Peter Sienko- 1st place
2nd Singles- Ian Sheets – 1st place
3rd Singles – Brett Graham- 2nd place, lost to Lansing Catholic in 3 sets.  Brett previously beat him in our dual match.
4th Singles – Nathan Fedewa – 2nd place, lost to Lansing Catholic
1st Doubles- Bartrem/Taylor- 3rd place, lost to Portland 1st round, and beat Lakewood for 3rd place.
2nd Doubles- Frenzel/Bennett- 2nd place, lost to Lansing Catholic
3rd Doubles- Hall/Johnson -2nd place, lost to Lansing Catholic
4th Doubles- McGuire/Pueppke- 2nd place, lost to Lansing Catholic.

“Even though we tied Lansing Catholic in our dual match, and won 4 flights to their 4 flights at the Dewitt Invitational, they got the best of us today with a 6-2 when we compare head to head at Leagues”, said Coach Brillantes.  “Our guys did work hard, but in the end, when it comes to the big tournaments, the big moments, experience and mental toughness wins,” he continued.  “Are we just as good as them physically and talent wise? Yes, I think we are just as good as anybody else in the state.  Can we pull the big wins when needed?  Unfortunately as a team, not today, but we still have two more weeks with time to improve and make a bigger name for our selves.  Bottom line: Right now, we just don’t have the experience in big time situations.  Hopefully, we can find it!!!” he concluded.