Traverse City Record-Eagle

Tennis

October 9, 2009

Four area teams bound for tennis finals

Leelanau qualifies in first year; St. Francis, Harbor, Central also in

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Traverse City Central is heading back to the Division 1 state finals.

So are St. Francis, the Leelanau co-op and Harbor Springs in Division 3.

St. Francis will be making its fifth straight finals appearance, while Leelanau qualified in the team's first year of existence.

"Everybody on the team won a match," Leelanau coach Tim Sutherland said. "That's what it takes to qualify for states. We've got three very happy schools."

The co-op -- made up of players from Leland, Leelanau School and Glen Lake -- put its doubles teams in the finals of all four flights.

Meanwhile, St. Francis ran away with the overall title, taking 23 of a possible 24 points. The Gladiators won seven of eight flights.

Leelanau was second with 12, followed by Harbor Springs (11), Elk Rapids (seven) and Charlevoix (three).

Harbor's Matt Matteson won No. 1 singles with a 6-1, 6-3 win over TCSF's Mac Hughes in the finals in the only flight not claimed by the Glads.

St. Francis' Mike Elliott topped Harbor's Steve Witte 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 2 singles final, Mac Corcoran beat Elk Rapids' Josh Mosher 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 3 singles final and Alex Primeau recorded a 6-2, 6-2 win over Harbor Springs' Louis Walsh.

All four doubles flights featured a finals matchup between St. Francis and Leelanau.

At No. 1 doubles, Sean Paquet and Newton Calcutt topped Wyatt Smith and Caleb Abbott 6-1, 6-0, while Josh Quinlan/Alex Rushlow notched a 6-2, 6-2 win against Adam Scarbrough/Clay Wolin.

Pat Wilson and Josh Kurtz recorded a 6-0, 6-0 win over Simon Kohler and Andrew Campbell at No. 3 doubles, while Chris Miller/Steven Siddall won a 6-2, 6-2 finals match against Matt Brown and Jacob Sterkenberg.

Leelanau scored eight of its 12 points in doubles.

Last year, St. Francis placed fifth in the state finals.

"The guys are hoping to be in the top five this time," St. Francis coach Annie Murphy said.

Leelanau received one win each from singles players Avery Lipman, Pedra Macahdo, Casey VanderWerff and Eddie Yan.

The Trojans punched their ticket Thursday with a second-place showing at the Division 1 regional at Midland. Sixth-ranked Grand Blanc won with 18 points while 10th-ranked Central had 15.

"We were second to Grand Blanc last year," Trojans coach Larry Nykerk said. "They had everyone back, but we only have four returning players. And, we were pushing them with a chance to win it."

The Trojans had two flight winners. At No. 1 doubles, Chris Heimberger and Peter Pappas beat Traverse City West (6-0, 6-0) and Grand Blanc (7-5, 6-2) to move to 35-1 on the season and win their flight. Mark Jones and Erik Krueger won the fourth flight with victories over Saginaw Heritage (6-0, 6-0), West (6-0, 6-1) and Grand Blanc (6-2, 7-6) to move to 34-2 on the year.

Hunter Bergsma reached the No. 1 singles final with wins over Heritage (6-2, 6-1) and Midland (6-4, 7-5) before losing to Aaron Pfister, Grand Blanc's undefeated defending state champion.

Harry Malone was the runner-up at No. 3 singles with wins over Flint Carman-Ainsworth (6-1, 6-0) and Heritage (7-6, 6-2), but a loss to Midland (6-2, 6-2). And at No. 3 doubles, Clark Phelps and Spencer Potter were second with wins over Heritage (6-2, 6-1) and Midland (6-7, 6-3, 6-4).

TC Central had a win from Max Lundmark at No. 2 singles over Carman-Ainsworth (6-1, 6-1), Caleb Morgan won at No. 4 singles against Davison (6-0, 6-0) while Jack Raymond/Matt Coleman beat Davison (6-4, 7-6) at No. 2 doubles.

TC West was led by No. 2 doubles team Joel Collins and Jacob Nestor. The pair were 2-1 on the day, topping Raymond/Coleman in the semifinals 6-3, 7-6 before falling 3-6, 1-6 in the finals to Grand Blanc. The 17-10 tandem also defeated Flint Carman-Ainsworth.

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