Williamston Tennis

4/14/09 Lakewood Varsity at Williamston, JV at Lakewood
4/21/09 Corunna Varsity at Williamston, JV at Corunna (checking JV numbers)
4/23/09 Varsity at Lansing Catholic, JV at Williamston
4/28/09 Portland Varsity at Williamston, JV at Portland
5/5/09 BYE
5/7/09 CAAC at Lansing Catholic

The Williamston Hornets hosted the girls’ tennis team from Charlotte on Monday, March 30, 2009, and extended their record to 2-0 with an 8-0 victory. “Our girls were real ambassadors for the game of tennis today,” said Coach Steve Stanley. “The Charlotte squad was composed of 9 players from Charlotte new to the game and our players were very considerate as they played the matches. We have a very classy group of girls on our squad,” he added.

The results of the CAAC crossover competition were: Singles: Ash (W) d, Sisco 6-0, 6-0; Cooper (W) d. Sloan 6-0, 6-0; Meijer (W) d. Fulton 6-1, 6-1; E. Krantz (W) d. Burke 6-2, 6-0
Doubles: Nelson-Nikolai (W) d. Tripplet-Czarnecki 6-0, 6-0; Donovan-Porter (W) d. Woodbeck/Adams 6-1, 6-0; Barton-Graham (W) d. Keverne/Ridge 6-0, 6-0; Steinberg-Vargovich (W) d. Christenson-Smith 6-1, 6-1.
Winning junior varsity matches for the Hornets were Gilly Cobb at one singles 6-1; Annie McGoff at two singles 6-0, and at number one doubles Andrea Krantz and Amber Wilson-Daeschlein 6-1.

The match against East Lansing has been postponed from April 1, to April 22nd. Also, the locations have switched, Varsity will now play in Williamston and JV in East Lansing. Lastly, the Charlotte team only has four JV players so only 1 and 2 singles and number 1 doubles from JV will play on Monday.

The Williamston high school girls’ tennis team began their defense of the Division 4 championship with a solid 6-2 victory over the DeWitt Panthers on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at DeWitt. “It was a good start,” said sophomore Leah Vargovich, who along with her doubles partner, Cara Steinberg, won their number four doubles match 6-3, 6-2.
“I think we were all eager to get the season underway,” said Aubree Barton, “We were getting tired of practicing and playing points against each other. She and Erin Graham are playing number three doubles this season after reaching the finals at the state championships last year at number four doubles. They won their match 6-3, 6-3.
Anya Nikolai and Mattie Nelson won their number one doubles match 6-3, 6-0. “One of the DeWitt girls had a really big serve and that took a little getting used to, but once we found our rhythm I knew we were going to be okay,” said Anya.
Tiffany Ash, returning for her third straight season as the number one singles player cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win. “It was really windy out there today, but I just played my game and came away with a victory.”
Freshman Claire Cooper made an impressive debut at number two singles by defeating her opponent 6-1, 6-2. “It was fun playing tennis as a member of team,” she said. “I play USTA matches and there isn’t any coaching in those so it is different. I think it will be a great season.”
“I was very pleased with everyone’s effort today,” said varsity coach Steve Stanley. “I was especially impressed with Gabby’s (Meijer) comeback win at number three singles.” Gabby lost the first set 6-1, then came back to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-4. “It was windy and I struggled with my serve but I figured out what I was doing and fixed it, she said. “Then I realized I wasn’t volleying to a corner when I was at the net. Instead I just hit it right back to my opponent and she either passed me or lobbed over my head. Once I fixed those two things I was able to turn the match around,” she concluded.
Erin Donovan and Audrey Porter lost their number two doubles match in three sets. “The girls we played against were very consistent and we just struggled with our serves,” said Erin. Erica Krantz lost her number four singles match 6-3, 6-4.
The Lady Hornets are home for a scrimmage against Grand Ledge on Thursday and play Charlotte also at home on Monday, March 30th.

The girls tennis junior varsity hosted DeWitt on the same day and came away with the same result, a hard fought, 6-2 victory. “So far, so good,” said junior varsity coach Phil Brillantes. “Five of the eight matches went three sets, which is like going into overtime in other sports,” he added. “The girls fought hard and pulled out victories in four of those five three set matches. Our number one doubles team of Amber Wilson-Daeschlein and Andrea Krantz were behind 0-5 in the second set and fought back to win that set 7-5 and then win the third set 6-3. That was a great effort.” he concluded.

The results were: 1st Singles – Gill Cobb won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4); 2nd Singles – Annie McGoff won 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3; 3rd Singles – Ali Wallace won 6-2, 6-0; 4th Singles – Bri O’Toole lost 2-6, 0-6.

1st Doubles – Amber Wilson-Daeschlein/ Andrea Krantz won 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; 2nd Doubles – Kelsey Ellsworth/ Caitlin Geyer won 6-4, 6-0; 3rd Doubles – Carrie Donohoe/Mallory Hoffman won 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; 4th Doubles – Callie Risch/ Amy Paruk lost 6-4, 6-7 (4), 3-6,

Winning exhibition matches for the Hornets were Ruby Smith in singles 6-2 and Rebecca Kost and Georgia Bayerl in doubles 6-2. Also playing for the Hornets in exhibition losses were Caroline Lupine, Calli Campbell and Amber Smith.

Congratulations to the WHS Varsity Girls on their Division 4 State Championship!
State champions. Williamston 21 points, North Pointe Christian 18 points, Kalamazoo Chrisitian 16, Kalamazoo Hackett 16, University Liggett 15, Lumen Christi 14, Portland 14, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 13, Niles Brandywine 13, Almont 12, Grandville Calvin Christian 11; Flint Powers 9, Lansing Catholic 9 (12 place); Battle Creek Pennfield 8, Bloomfield Hills Sacred Heart 6, North Muskegon 5, Frankenmuth 4, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 4, Traverse City St. Francis, 4, Ann Arbor Greenhills 2, Grand Rapids West Catholic 1, Saginaw Nouvel 1, Bridgman 0, Dowagiac 0, Essexville Garber 0, Midland Bullock Creek 0.

Champions: 3rd doubles-Olivia Green/Erin Donovan (5 points), Finalists: 1 doubles Anya Nikolai/Sarah Vogel 4 points; 2 doubles Sandra Suryak/Katherine Noren 4 points; 4 doubles Erin Graham/Aubree Barton 4 points

Other points: Tiffany Ash (2), Miranda Vorce and Mattie Nelson (1 each). (21 total).

The brackets are available here! All the singles and 1 doubles will play all of their matches at MSU’s outdoor courts (weather permitting). 2, 3, 4 doubles will play their first rounds at Okemos then move to MSU.

Hint: If you view the file below on Slideshare, you can do a full screen view to make it easy to read!

The Williamston girls’ tennis team traveled to Portland on Thursday, May 15, 2008, to compete in the MHSAA regional tournament. The lady hornets returned with their third consecutive regional championship by winning 26 team points. Portland finished second with 21, Lansing Catholic finished third and also qualified for the state finals with 19 points. The rest of the nine team field finished as follows: Chesaning 12, Alma 7, Leslie 5, Ovid-Elsie 4, Ithaca 3, and Durand 1.
“I think this result might establish the Williamston Tennis Program as one of the best in the area,” said varsity coach Steve Stanley. “This region is very tough to win. Jim (Niebling, Portland) and Cindy (Hollenbeck, Lansing Catholic) are very good and very experienced coaches. Our girls had to play very smart and very consistently to win the regional this year,” he added. “Should we do well at the state finals part of the credit will go to the competition these coaches and their players provided us during the season, in the CAAC White league championships and today at the MHSAA regional tournament,” he concluded.
The Hornet team came away with five of the eight regional flight championships. Tiffany Ash at one singles, Allyson Nash at two singles, Anya Nikolai and Sarah Vogel at one doubles, Erin Donovan and Olivia Green at three doubles, and Erin Graham and Aubree Barton at four doubles. Taking runner up wins were Miranda Vorce at number four singles and Katherine Noren and Sandra Suryak at number two doubles. Adding a point for the Hornets with her first round win was Mattie Nelson at number three singles. Coach Steve Stanley also received the honor for the third consecutive year in being named the Girls’ Regional Coach of the Year.
The number one ranked Hornets will next compete at the MHSAA state finals which will be held at the tennis courts of Michigan State University on Friday, May 30, and Saturday, May 31, 2008.

The Williamston Hornets tennis team hosted a three team invitational on Saturday, May 10, 2008. The visiting teams were 10th ranked Jackson Lumen Christi and Essexville-Garber. The Hornets won the tournament with 12 points, Jackson Lumen Christi finished second with 7 points and Essexville-Garber had 5 points.
The tournament format was a round robin in which each team’s flight played the other two teams’ flights so it was a double dual tournament as well. In the dual match ups Williamston defeated Jackson Lumen Christi 6-2 and Essexville-Garber by the same 6-2 score.
The faces of the Hornets’ tennis players were tired but they displayed the satisfaction that comes from winning a tough tournament following CAAC championship match play just the day before. “The girls were all pretty worn out,” said Coach Steve Stanley. “When we originally scheduled our Invitational the league championships were supposed to be on Thursday, giving us a day to rest. When they moved them to Friday I knew this would be a grueling phase of our schedule,” he continued.
“This is what the state finals are like, though,” added assistant coach Dan Slider. “You play two tough matches on Friday and then have to come right back to play the finals the next morning. The girls showed they have the mental and physical toughness that it takes to win under those conditions,” he said.
Winning the gold medals for the Hornets by finishing first in their flights were Tiffany Ash at one singles, Allyson Nash at two singles, Anya Nikolai and Gabby Meijer at number one doubles, Sandra Suryak and Katherine Noren at number two doubles, Olivia Green and Erin Donovan at number three doubles, and Erin Graham and Aubree Barton at number four doubles. Placing third for the Hornets were Mattie Nelson at number three singles and Miranda Vorce at number four singles.
The Hornets are now 13-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Prep Tennis: Williamston Invitational
Team scores:
Invitational results:
Williamston 12, Jackson Lumen Christi 7, Essexville-Garber 5.
Dual match results:
Williamston 6, Jackson Lumen Christi 2
Williamston 6, Essexville-Garber 2
Jackson Lumen Christi 5, Essexville Garber 3
Singles: Ash (W) d. Griffin (J) 6-0, 6-0; Nash (W) d. Fodor 6-1, 6-2; Berkerneier (J) d. Goldstein (E) 7-5, 6-2; McHugh (J) d. Freed (E) 6-4, 7-5.
Doubles: Meijer-Nikolai (W) d. Dardas-Piorkowski (E) 6-1, 3-6, 6-6(4); Noren-Suryak (W) d. Hunter-Schubert (E) 6-2, 6-1; Donovan-Green (W) d. Brewster-Kennedy (J) 6-0, 6-2; Barton-Graham (W) d. Monville-Studley (E) 6-4, 6-2.

The Williamston girls’ tennis team traveled to Portland to compete in the CAAC White Division championships and returned with a first place finish and the league title for the second straight year. The Lady Hornets captured the league championship by finishing first in the dual match round robin season and capping it off by finishing first in the league championships on Friday, May 9, 2008.
“This has been a big week for the Williamston Tennis Program,” said varsity coach Steve Stanley. “We learned on Thursday that the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association ranked our team number one in Division 4,” he continued. “That added both a new level of confidence in our players but also a heightened sense of pressure to prove we were worthy of that ranking,” he said. “The girls’ came out and played solid tennis today and took another step forward in our season,” he concluded.
The Hornets accumulated 37 points to finish ahead of Lansing Catholic and Portland who tied for second with 27 points. Lakewood finished fourth with 20 points and Corunna ended the day in fifth place with 9 points.
“I thought we played our very best tennis ever in the finals,” said Katherine Noren, senior and member of the number two doubles duo with Sandra Suryak. “We hit really good shots that were consistently on target,” she added. “We didn’t play as well in the semi-finals, but I was really happy with our finals match,” she concluded.
John Bragle, JV coach for the Hornets summed up the day by saying, “I felt we played very well and perhaps even exceeded expectations given that we had a junior varsity player (Gabby Meijer subbing in for absent Sarah Vogel who is attending an out of state school conference). I was impressed with their win in the first round and for giving Portland a good scare in the finals, losing in three sets,” he concluded.
Taking home first place medals were Tiffany Ash at number one singles, Allyson Nash at number two singles, Katherine Noren and Olivia Green at number two doubles, Olivia Green and Erin Donovan at number three doubles, and Aubree Barton and Erin Graham at number four doubles. Winning silver medals for their second place finishes were Mattie Nelson at number three singles, Miranda Vorce at number fours singles and Anya Nikolai and her substitute partner Gabby Meijer at number one doubles. All twelve players will be named All Conference, which is also a feat achieved for the second consecutive year.