Traverse City Record-Eagle

Tennis

June 6, 2010

Trojans pair win second tennis title

Connick, Whiting repeat as state champs

From Staff Reports ----

EAST LANSING — Maddy Connick and Ellen Whiting did what no other girls in Traverse City Central tennis history had ever done before on Saturday.

They repeated as state champions.

Connick and Whiting earned their second straight title at No. 3 doubles as the Trojans placed third at the Division 2 state finals at Michigan State University.

"It feels incredible," Connick said. "Me and my partner worked really hard and we wanted to leave our mark. This is a great feeling."

Bloomfield Hills Marian and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern shared the Division 2 title with 28 points. TC Central was third with 22.

"I'm so proud of how our team played this week," Connick said. "We beat some really good teams and performed even better than expected."

Connick and Whiting, both seniors, finished the season 39-3. The final two wins, though, weren't easy.

In the semifinals, the Central tandem beat No. 2 seed Bloomfield Hills Marian's Morgan Asher and Jessica Fortin 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3. Then in the finals, they beat Birmingham Seaholm's Annie Grier and Samantha Miller 7-5, 7-5 despite trailing 5-1 in the first set and 4-3 in the second.

"We play together as a team and play off each other's weaknesses," Whiting said. "We have really positive attitudes and we don't get down. We'll lose games, but we say it's alright and we'll come back to get the next one."

Whiting said they struggled serving on Saturday, but worked the net game and had some really good ground strokes to win the title.

TC Central also reached the finals at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.

At the top flight, Maggie Milliken and Amanda Street advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over North Farmington's Emily Hand and Emily Jan, but lost to top-seed Shelby Florida/Macey Hallstedt from Forest Hills Northern 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. It was the first time in three years the Forest Hills Northern pair had dropped a set.

At No. 2 doubles, Central's Grace Amalfitano and Kelly Milliken knocked off top-seeded Sarah Holden/Kajal Magal from Forest Hills Northern 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals. Bloomfield Hills Marian's Katherine Fidelholtz/Katherine Dillon won in the final 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in a match that gave Marian a share of the state crown with Forest Hills Northern.

The Trojans were also alive at No. 4 singles with Audrey Lyman in the semifinals. There, she came up short against top-seeded Farmington Hills Mercy's Jessie Guindi, 7-6(6), 6-2. Guindi went on to win the state title.

Text Only