6 regional champs among 14 Grand Rapids-area teams heading to girls tennis state finals

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Michigan’s first set of spring sports state championship trophies are on the line this weekend, and 11 Grand Rapids-area teams will be among those vying for a title in girls tennis. Six local squads – West Ottawa, Forest Hills Northern, South Christian, GR Christian, Holland Christian and GR Catholic Central – are coming off regional championships, while Forest Hills Eastern’s Lilah Zaskowski qualified as an individual by reaching the finals of the No. 1 singles flights. Additionally, eight more Grand Rapids-area teams fared well enough to advance to the finals. The championships will look different this spring, as the Michigan High School Athletic Association has spread them out over the course of a week, and all will be played at the Midland Tennis Center. First up is the Division 4 finals on Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday, May 28, followed by the Division 1 finals on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30. The Division 2 finals run from Wednesday, June 3 to Thursday, June 4, and the Division 3 tournament takes place Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6. Follow along for more info on the local teams and athletes that will be serving it up in search of a state title. Notes: West Ottawa captured its eighth consecutive regional title by defeating runner-up Rockford by six points, with the two teams meeting in the finals at No. 1, 3 and 4 singles and No. 2 doubles. West Ottawa won three of those championship matches, including a thriller at No. 1 singles, where second-seeded Evie Price took the rubber match against Rockford sophomore Grace Ferry, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Price won the regular season matchup, but Ferry earned a win at the conference tournament. The Panthers won all four singles flights at regionals, as well as the No. 3 doubles flight. Notes: The Rams are returning to the state finals for a fifth consecutive season, after taking second place at regionals behind West Ottawa. Rockford’s lone flight championship came from Sienna Maag and Vanessa Rollenhagen at No. 2 doubles, but the Rams reached the finals in three other flights, including No. 1, 3 and 4 singles. Notes: Byron Center is back in the state finals for the first time since 2021, as the Bulldogs earned 18 points at regionals, which was enough to secure their spot, despite finishing outside of the top-two places. The Bulldogs didn’t win any flight championships, but reached the finals at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles. Mallory Johnson’s season at No. 2 singles has been particularly impressive, as the junior is also an elite volleyball player that recently earned a spot on USA Volleyball’s U21 National Team. Notes: Zeeland West made history with its first girls tennis regional title, as the Dux split the championship with Mattawan, with each team collecting 23 points. Second-seeded No. 2 singles player Harley Brown sealed the historic championship, with a 6-4, 6-3 win over top-seeded Valeria Vega, of Mattawan. Top-seeded Aneliece Yin also won a flight championship at No. 4 singles, while third-seeded Brailee Bursley and Molly Settlemyre rounded out the Dux’s champions at No. 2 doubles. Notes: The 2024 state champions earned a spot in the season’s final weekend with their seventh consecutive regional title, as the Huskies outpaced runner-up Forest Hills Central by seven points. Harriet Ogilvie and Audrey Kowatch claimed flight championships at No. 1 and 4 singles, while the Northern tandems of Ava Targosz and Sadie Wolfe (No. 2), Hailey Pfeiffle and Hayla Messelink (No. 3) and Mercedes Acevedo and Maddie Decker (No. 4) won doubles titles. Notes: Though the Rangers came up short of a regional championship, they’re still headed to the state finals for a fifth consecutive season following a second-place finish behind rival Forest Hills Northern. Top-seeded Annaliese Hoffman won Northern’s lone singles flight championship at No. 2, while second-seeded Clare Knoester and Kylie Hatfield won at No. 1 doubles. Notes: South Christian secured its second consecutive regional title behind a strong performance from its doubles flights, with Anneka Schuurmans and Sophie Young (No. 2), Aletta Vos and Ella Buwalda (No. 3) and Emma Lynema and Chloe Hasper (No. 4) all winning championships. Second-seeded Molly Alden won the Sailors’ lone singles title at No. 4 by upsetting top-seeded Billie Lucas, of Hamilton, 7-6, 6-0. Notes: Hamilton is heading back to the state finals for a third consecutive season, after finishing five points behind regional champion South Christian. The Hawkeyes produced two flight champions – second-seeded Kylie Rietema at No. 3 singles and top-seeded Eran Meiste and Sophia Blauwkamp at No. 1 doubles. That doubles championship required Meiste and Blauwkamp to battle back from a 1-6 loss in the first game, but they proved up to the challenge, as they took down South Christian’s Stella Jelsema and Morgan Struck, 7-5 and 6-3 in the final two games. Notes: The Eagles won their first regional title since 2023 by outpacing runner-up East Grand Rapids, 29-23, which provided some redemption after losing to the Pioneers, 5-3, during their regular season dual match. Top-seeded Henley Honholt, one of the state’s top sophomores, won the No. 1 singles flight, defeating Forest Hills Eastern’s Lilah Zaskowski, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, in the finals, while Christian teammate Ida Mertens also won a flight championship as the top seed at No. 2. On the doubles side, Christian captured flight championships at No. 1, 2 and 3, the first of two went three sets in the final round. Top-seeded Anneka Vermeulen and Anna Jacobsen defeated EGR’s Edith Zimdar and Ines Bordenet, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 1, while second-seeded Gwyn Artz and Emily VandenBerge upset EGR’s Naomi Stolle and Sadie Davlaeminck, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4), at No. 2. Notes: Zaskowski is making her third consecutive trip to the state finals, though first without her team, after taking runner-up honors at the No. 1 singles flight, where she fell to GR Christian’s Henley Honholt, 6-2, 3-6, 0-6. Prior to that loss, Zaskowski won her two regional matches in straight sets, and she’s rated as the state’s seventh-best singles player, according to the Tennis Power Rating formula. Among her best wins this year are victories over Forest Hills Northern’s Harriet Ogilvie, Forest Hills Central’s Chloe Cox, Rockford’s Grace Ferry, EGR’s Divyana Varma, Catholic Central’s Colleen Kirk and Holland Christian’s Camryn Nadig. Notes: The Pioneers played without a couple starters – Divyana Varma at No. 1 singles and Lia Degoa at No. 3 doubles – due to international baccalaureate tests, but they still fared well, finishing second behind GR Christian and qualifying for the state finals for a 49th consecutive year dating back to 1977. EGR has won 17 state titles in that span, which ranks third in state history behind Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s 20 and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s 18. Sophomore Amara Hossain stepped up in Degoa’s place at No. 3 doubles, helping the Pioneers reach the flight semifinals, while Evelyn Gingras (No. 3 singles), Mia Owings (No. 4 singles) and Grace Taylor and Chloe Custer (No. 4 doubles) won flight championships. Notes: The Maroons outscored runners-up Coopersville and Fruitport, 32-15, to claim their sixth consecutive regional title and 27th consecutive state finals berth. Holland Christian won championships in all eight flights, headlined by third-seeded Camryn Nadig winning three-set matches in the semifinals and finals at No. 1 singles. In the championship round, Nadig upset top-seeded Josalynn Nowicki, of Fruitport, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. Also of note, the No. 1 doubles tandem of Kassie Evenhouse and Stella Klooster and the No. 2 duo of Hope Bruinsma and Lily Wierenga won their championship matches by scores of 6-0, 6-0. Notes: Coopersville qualified for the state finals as a team for the first time since 2019, as the Broncos tied with Fruitport for second place behind Holland Christian. The Broncos didn’t produce any flight champions, but sent two to the final round, including unseeded Molly Jonaitis, who upset Ludington’s second-seeded Khloe Wachowski, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 4 singles, and third-seeded Emma Hoffman and Liviann Vos at No. 3 doubles. Notes: Catholic Central captured its first regional title since 2023, as the Cougars outscored runner-up NorthPointe Christian, 30-24, behind three flight championships in both singles and doubles. Colleen Kirk came through with a big win at No. 1 singles, as the second-seeded junior avenged a regular season loss to NorthPointe Christian’s top-seeded Leah Ulstad, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, in the championship round, while Cougar teammates Claire Kaufman and Naomi Tamae cruised to straight-set victories in the finals at No. 2 and No. 3. Similarly, Beth Passinault and Ruthie Radgen (No. 2), Jessica Milanowski and Anna Cotter (No. 3) and Tessa Lindemann and Sienna Martinus (No. 4) needed only two sets in the championship round to win their respective doubles flights. Notes: NorthPointe is heading back to the state finals for a sixth consecutive season after placing second at regionals behind GR Catholic Central. The Mustangs produced flight champions at No. 4 singles, as top-seeded Kayla Koppenhofer defeated Catholic Central’s Margaret Deimel, 6-2, 6-4, in the finals, as well as No. 1 doubles, where the second-seeded duo of Lilly Graham and Kate Axelson defeated Catholic Central’s top-seeded tandem of Mary Irwin and Arabella Sassano, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.