The #5 ranked Eagles, after winning their Regional tournament for the fourth straight year, traveled to the State Finals this past weekend in Midland.  The Division 3 Finals is arguably the toughest Division having 3 of the Top 5 ranked teams across all Divisions in the entire State; several of the Eagles 8 flights had wins over top seeded teams in Division 2 and 4, yet were shockingly unseeded in the State Finals.  

The Eagles did enter the tournament with 3 seeded teams but with several difficult draws. Unfazed, the team came together at the right time, with nearly every flight scoring points to finish fourth and getting four flights into the semifinals with two State Finalists.  The environment was raucous, rowdy, and would be intimidating to a less experienced team, as several other schools folded under the relentless onslaught of obnoxious cheering and jeering.  The second day the competition moved indoors, putting the fans literally right next to the courts.  There was no hiding from the intensity and spotlight of the moment, and the Eagles handled the pressure phenomenally.

#2 Doubles, featuring Seniors Cade Boender and Charlie Walters, All-State from a year ago, started off the points for the Eagles beating Haslett 6-1,6-4.  While the duo has wins over top teams and near wins against some of the best teams in the state, Boender/Walters were stuck in a part of the draw where they faced top seeded Country Day after the W.  Proving they deserved a better draw, the Eagles came out strong going up a break 5-3 in the first and battled to a 6-6 tiebreak.  The big upset was not to be, however, as Boender/Walters fell 7-6, 6-4. Country Day did not face a stiffer challenge than the Eagles in any of their matches until their three set final win.  Also coming out strong in his first State Finals was Sophomore Lucas Piñon. Piñon, coming in from Valencia, Spain, has been a great addition for the Eagles but also had a tough draw, feeding into the #2 seed and State Finalist/Runner-Up from Cranbrook.  Piñon earned a big point for the Eagles before bowing out.  Callum Campbell, a freshman at #4 singles had a great season but fell in the first round to Ludington in a tough match.

At #2 Singles, Senior Alex Cook, a four year Varsity Player, shook out as another surprisingly unseeded player, and did not catch a break on his placement in the draw.  Undeterred, Cook played a massive 2 point first round match against a big lefty from St. John’s.  Cook jumped out to a quick lead and held off his opponent in the first set 6-3. In closing out the match, Cook made exceptional decisions and outworked his opponent 6-4.  In losing to the eventual State Champion from Greenhills, Cook closed out a great singles career reaching the Quarterfinals. Alex was All-Conference multiple years and took on a very tough season playing #2 for the Eagles, and concluded his season as one of the top ten #2 players in the state.

State Semifinalists

The Eagles had four flights reach the Semifinals winning two matches on the first day.  The #3 seeded Senior Simon Volkema, with multiple wins over the #1 seed in D2 and only having one loss on his season won his first match in about a half hour 6-1,6-0.  Holland Christian was next, and Volkema was mentally prepared where his opponent was not.  After a closer first set than expected, Volkema rolled to a 6-2 second set victory with the rowdy crowd at the Finals supporting Volkema.  In the Semifinals, Volkema fell to Cranbrook in an extremely tight 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) match that had more swings than a playground.  Volkema concludes his career as a Four-Year All-Conference and All-State Player with over 100 wins at #1 and is headed to Williams College to play tennis next year.

Notwithstanding their great record and efforts by Coach Morey to earn them a seed at the Finals, Sophomores Parker Seth and Isaiah Bos entered the tournament unseeded.  With the proverbial chip on their shoulders, Seth/Bos faced off against #6 seeded Ludington, whom the Seed Committee decided were the better choice over the Eagles.  Proving the Committee wrong, Seth/Bos stomped into the Quarterfinals with a 6-4,6-2 win over the Orioles.  Not done, our unseeded team fought through some significant adversity to upset the #3 seeded Greenhills team in three sets, 6-4 in the third set.  In the semifinals, Seth/Bos fell to Cranbrook 6-4,6-3 ending one of the most special runs of the entire tournament as an unseeded team into the semifinals.

State Finalists

Seniors Sam Van Schepen and Ethan DeBlecourt earned the #3 seed entering the tournament by virtue of their recent run with wins over FHN (seeded #2 D2), FHC (seeded #6 D2) and a big win over EGR at Regionals.  After not dropping a game in their first match 6-0,6-0 over Haslett, the tandem played a very solid St. Clair team with no visible weaknesses to exploit.  Down a set, the two fought back to win in 3 sets with some stellar net play by DeBlecourt, some unbreakable groundstrokes from Van Schepen, and some stellar coaching by Coach Tim Volkema who got there during the second set comeback. Heading into their semifinals against the #2 seed Country Day, the Van Schepen/DeBlecourt punched them in the mouth figuratively, shocking the team by taking the first set. Clinging by a thread, Country Day barely one of the second, 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreak). Aided by some key coaching from Coach Dave Hartman, they regrouped and pushed through to the upset in 3 sets 6-3 in the third.  The State title was not to be, however, as the two ran up against two extremely good players from Cranbrook.  Van Schepen/DeBlecourt proved they were deserving of recognition by winning the first set 6-4 before Cranbrook came back to win.

Coming into the tournament seeded #1 with only one loss, Seniors Tanner Warners and Dream Kwon faced a very deep and experienced draw at #1 Doubles.  With Warner’s ridiculous net play and Kwon’s big forehand, the pair rolled into the semifinals with a 6-3,6-0 win over Mason and followed it up with a 6-3,6-1 win over St. Joe, their third of the year. Up next was EGR as the #4 seed.  Having barely escaped EGR at Conference Tournament with a three set win after a 7-6,7-6 win during their Conference season, the match was sure to be tight.  Nothing could be further than what unfolded, as fan favorite Warners and Kwon rode the energy of the crowd playing on a show court to make a ridiculously low 11 unforced errors on the match to win 6-0,6-1.  In the State Finals, #2 seed Country Day beat St. Clair.  Warners/Kwon came out as they did against EGR, albeit against a tougher opponent.  In easily the best doubles match played all year in any Division, the Eagles won the first set 6-4 with only one break of serve.  The second set was more of a roller coaster, but Warners/Kwon found themselves serving for the match 5-4.  Country Day fought back and it went into a tiebreak.  In a back and forth tiebreak, Country Day lucked into just a few key breaks to win the tiebreak 10-8.  Warners/Kwon could not regroup and fell 6-3 in the third.  The pair finished the season with 2 losses. Warners finishes his career with over 100 wins, and he and Volkema are two of the winningest players in school history.  

This group of seniors: Cade Boender, Alex Cook, Ethan DeBlecourt, Aaron Dorner, Dream Kwon, Sam VanSchepen, Simon Volkema, Charlie Walters, and Tanner Warners have all contributed to the success of the Eagles not just this year but for four straight in some capacity.  This is one of the most decorated groups of seniors to come through the program with State Finalists, All-State, All-Area, All-Conference, and All-State Academic players.  Two players, Simon Volkema and Tanner Warners, have possibly the most wins in school history.  The 4th place finish is one of the highest in school history for both programs, but especially on the boy’s side.  They will truly be missed!