Game Summaries & Team News
Game Summaries
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Eagles Reach the State Quarterfinals
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The Eagles Varsity Tennis Team ended their season with a run through the District and Regional Championships to the State Quarterfinals with a win over Petoskey before falling to Detroit Country Day.
The Eagles earned a trip to the Finals by virtue of their Regional Championship over Zeeland East. With the new Team vs. Team Format, the team earned the #6 Overall seed. The Top 16 teams made it to the State Tournament. The Eagles drew the #11 Seed Petoskey in the first round.
On a cold and blustery day in Holland, the Eagles came out primed to perform in their first match and had contributions from both Singles and Doubles. In Doubles, #1 Juniors Cade Boender and Charlie Walters closed out a tough and contentious match. #2 Juniors Sam VanSchepen and Ethan DeBlecourt won decisively, followed by #3 Senior Peter Bos and Freshman Richard Verhoef winning a tough 3 set match. Newcomers Luke Gelderloos and Parker Seth crushed their opponents at #4 Doubles in under an hour.
The search for the fifth point ended when #4 Junior Captain Tanner Warners won in singles, followed by #1 Junior Captain Simon Volkema earning the 6th point. Senior Captain Alex Lowell and Junior Alex Cook lost very close matches but performed well.
Next came #3 Seed Country Day. The Eagles came out a little flat and were down quickly before coming back to compete well. Simon Volkema held off a raucous challenge from the #1 Singles and their fans to win in straight sets. The season ends for the Eagles with a Quarterfinal finish at the State Finals and a likely Top 5 or 6 Overall Ranking.
And, while postseason awards are not completely out yet, Junior Captains Simon Volkema at #1 Singles, and Tanner Warners at #4 Singles have earned individual OK-White Conference Championships on the basis of their work in the Conference Duals and OK-White Conference Tournament. Each player only has 1 loss on the ENTIRE SEASON heading into the State Finals.
The season is not over for Volkema, as he earns a trip to the lone individual State Finals at #1 Singles. Volkema has earned one of only 8 spots in the tournament based on his season play. The tournament takes place next week at Mason High School for Division 3. While it is fantastic to even have a State Finals, the lack of Flight Championships is disappointing, because the Eagles have several Flights, such as Warners, who would have competed for individual State Titles.
The Eagles will greatly miss their seniors. Senior Captain Alex Lowell was a Varsity player for all 3 years here at GRCHS, playing singles every year and looks forward to college tennis. Senior Peter Bos earned a trip to the State Finals in his first season and his willingness to do whatever the team needed will be missed. Senior Matt Molenhouse, a team favorite, has been participating in Eagle tennis since the 6th grade, and treated the team to pancakes the morning of State Finals. The program will miss these young men greatly.
Varsity Tennis Earns Record 3-Peat Regional Title
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. East Grand Rapids High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Grandville, Catholic Central, and Grand Ledge
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Forest Hills Northern High
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Greenville Senior High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Byron Center High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 3 - 5
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Forest Hills Central High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 1 - 7
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Forest Hills Central High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 1 - 7
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Holland Christian High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 0 - 0
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Holland Christian High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 0 - 0
Eagles Reach the State Quarterfinals
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The Eagles Varsity Tennis Team ended their season with a run through the District and Regional Championships to the State Quarterfinals with a win over Petoskey before falling to Detroit Country Day.
The Eagles earned a trip to the Finals by virtue of their Regional Championship over Zeeland East. With the new Team vs. Team Format, the team earned the #6 Overall seed. The Top 16 teams made it to the State Tournament. The Eagles drew the #11 Seed Petoskey in the first round.
On a cold and blustery day in Holland, the Eagles came out primed to perform in their first match and had contributions from both Singles and Doubles. In Doubles, #1 Juniors Cade Boender and Charlie Walters closed out a tough and contentious match. #2 Juniors Sam VanSchepen and Ethan DeBlecourt won decisively, followed by #3 Senior Peter Bos and Freshman Richard Verhoef winning a tough 3 set match. Newcomers Luke Gelderloos and Parker Seth crushed their opponents at #4 Doubles in under an hour.
The search for the fifth point ended when #4 Junior Captain Tanner Warners won in singles, followed by #1 Junior Captain Simon Volkema earning the 6th point. Senior Captain Alex Lowell and Junior Alex Cook lost very close matches but performed well.
Next came #3 Seed Country Day. The Eagles came out a little flat and were down quickly before coming back to compete well. Simon Volkema held off a raucous challenge from the #1 Singles and their fans to win in straight sets. The season ends for the Eagles with a Quarterfinal finish at the State Finals and a likely Top 5 or 6 Overall Ranking.
And, while postseason awards are not completely out yet, Junior Captains Simon Volkema at #1 Singles, and Tanner Warners at #4 Singles have earned individual OK-White Conference Championships on the basis of their work in the Conference Duals and OK-White Conference Tournament. Each player only has 1 loss on the ENTIRE SEASON heading into the State Finals.
The season is not over for Volkema, as he earns a trip to the lone individual State Finals at #1 Singles. Volkema has earned one of only 8 spots in the tournament based on his season play. The tournament takes place next week at Mason High School for Division 3. While it is fantastic to even have a State Finals, the lack of Flight Championships is disappointing, because the Eagles have several Flights, such as Warners, who would have competed for individual State Titles.
The Eagles will greatly miss their seniors. Senior Captain Alex Lowell was a Varsity player for all 3 years here at GRCHS, playing singles every year and looks forward to college tennis. Senior Peter Bos earned a trip to the State Finals in his first season and his willingness to do whatever the team needed will be missed. Senior Matt Molenhouse, a team favorite, has been participating in Eagle tennis since the 6th grade, and treated the team to pancakes the morning of State Finals. The program will miss these young men greatly.
Varsity Tennis Earns Record 3-Peat Regional Title
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The Eagles Varsity Tennis Team made history yesterday, claiming the school's first ever 3-Peat Regional Title. The Eagles, Division 3 State Ranked #6, was the #1 overall seed heading into the tournament. The new format meant the Eagles had to win team head to head matches to secure the title.
Hosting the Regionals at Zandee Tennis Center on a beautiful fall day, the Eagles quickly dispatched Wayland 8-0 to start their day. Cade Boender/Charlie Walters, Sam VanSchepen/Ethan DeBlecourt, Peter Bos/Richard Verhoef, and Luke Gelderloos/Parker Seth won at 1-4 doubles, respectively. Simon Volkema, Alex Lowell, Alex Cook, and Tanner Warners won quickly in straight sets at 1-4 singles, respectively.
The Hamilton Hawkeyes, having a lot of seniors and a strong season came to Zandee as the #4 Seed having beaten Holland High School earlier in the day. The Eagles gave one of their most thorough team efforts on the whole season, crushing the upset minded Hawkeyes 7-1. The outcome was decided early, as the four singles flights of Volkema, Lowell, Cook, and Warners all won quickly in straight sets to earn four points. Boender/Walters, VanSchepen/DeBlecourt, and Gelderloos/Seth came through to secure the 7-1 victory and send the Eagles to the State Finals once again.
The Eagles will continue their season next week as they travel to the Holland area to compete against the other 16 Regional Champs in the State Finals. The Eagles look to finish in the Top 10 again to conclude their historic season.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. East Grand Rapids High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The #6 Ranked EGR Pioneers made the trip to Zandee Tennis Center to face off against the #7 Ranked Eagles in a showdown that had massive Conference, Regional, and State Seeding implications. In a total team effort that would have made Coach Zandee proud, the boys in Eagle Blue came away with a huge win over their OK-White Rivals.
To set the scene, a win over the Pioneers meant that the Eagles would be placed in the Top 4 Teams in the Conference to play for the Conference Title and other All-Conference Honors. A loss would relegate the Eagles to the bottom four of the Conference. A win also places the Eagles in position for a higher team seed should both teams advance to the new Top 16 MHSAA State Tennis Finals and also continue to solidify their position as a number 1 seed in the Regional.
And to make the situation even more intense, under new team rules if the teams tied 4-4, the tiebreaker would come down to what team won more sets in the match. That's exactly what happened, as the Eagles and the Pioneers tied 4-4 so it came down to the most sets won and the Eagles had the edge, 9-8 over the Pioneers.
The Eagles won at #1, #3, and #4 Singles, with Simon Volkema, Alex Cook, and Tanner Warners all turning in straight set victories. The Pioneers won at #2, #3, and #4 Doubles. #1 Doubles, Cade Boender and Charlie Walters played inspired tennis in the first set, coming from 5-4 behind to win a huge 7-5 set that would end up being the deciding factor before falling in 3 sets. Senior Alex Lowell also faced a significant amount of adversity, being down 5-4 and 6-5 in his first set that if he would have lost, would have sent the match into the next tiebreaker where the Pioneers would have earned the win with having more total games won. Alex closed the door 7-6 in the first set before rolling to a 6-2 second set win to clinch the victory.
The Eagles face FHE on Thursday before competing for the OK-White Conference Title this Friday or Saturday. Congratulations to the team on a historic and huge win!
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Grandville, Catholic Central, and Grand Ledge
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The Eagles Varsity Tennis Team traveled to Grandville this weekend and came away with a solid tournament win, beating Division 4 State Ranked Catholic Central 6-3, Host Grandville 8-1, and Grand Ledge 9-0.
The Singles lineup continued their domination, with Junior Captain Simon Volkema, Senior Captain Alex Lowell, Junior Alex Cook, and Junior Captain Tanner Warners sweeping the day as Flight Champions at #1-#4 Singles, respectively.
In doubles, newcomers Luke Gelderloos and Parker Seth debuted at #4 Doubles and came through as Flight Champions going 3-0 on the day. At #5 Doubles, Senior Matt Molenhouse and Junior Derek Jacobsen also swept 3-0 to win their Flight.
The Eagles take on EGR today at the Zandee Tennis Center at Gainey in an extremely important battle that has OK-White and Division 3 State Seeding implications. EGR is currently ranked 6th in Division 3, and the Eagles are ranked #7.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Forest Hills Northern High
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The #5 Division 3 ranked Varsity Eagles squared off against Division 2 #1 ranked Huskies last night at FHN and came away with a 7-1 loss. The score was not indicative of the performances top to bottom, as 3 Eagles Flights took the Huskies to 3 sets. Junior Tri-Captain Simon Volkema and Senior Tri-Captain Alex Lowell both took their opponents to 3 sets.
The lone W on the day was Junior Tri-Captain Tanner Warners, who went out with a hot start and shocked his opponent 6-4 in the first set. The second set went the other way, and down 2-0 in the 3rd, Warners climbed back into the match and won 6 of the next 7 games to take it 6-3.
The Eagles get two days of practice before playing the Bulldog Invitational in Grandville.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Greenville Senior High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The Varsity Eagles went over the hills and through the woods to take on Greenville in an OK-White match last evening and came away with a resounding 8-0 victory.
Junior Tri-Captain Simon Volkema, Senior Tri-Captain Alex Lowell, Junior Alex Cook, and Junior Sam VanSchepen swept away the competition at 1-4 Singles, respectively. They made quick work of an overmatched Greenville squad.
Junior Tri-Captain Tanner Warners and Junior Ethan DeBlecourt and Juniors Cade Boender and Charlie Walters wasted no time in dispatching their opponents at 1 and 2 Doubles, respectively, and Senior Peter Bos, Freshman Rirchard VerHoef, Senior Matt Molenhouse and Junior Derek Jacobsen won by default.
Coach Amber Warners, the multiple National Championship winning Volleyball Head Coach at Calvin University can now add another win to her illustrious career as she was Head Coaching for the Eagles against Greenville. The players played with respect and intensity for Coach Warners, rarely taking a point off and proving why they are the #5 Ranked Team in the State. The Eagles next travel to Conference leading Forest Hills Northern.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Byron Center High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 3 - 5
On a beautiful day at Gainey, the Eagles fought the Division 2 Bulldogs from Byron Center, but came up just short, losing 5-3. Simon Volkema continued his dominating ways at #1 Singles, taking down his opponent in efficient fashion 6-0, 6-0. Cade Boender and Charlie Walters fought hard at #1 doubles and defeated their Bulldog counterparts 6-3, 7-5.
The match of the day for the Eagles came at #4 Singles as Tanner Warners outlasted his opponent in a match that took nearly 3 hours. Down in every set, Tanner battled back to win 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4.
Next up for the state-ranked Eagles is the Rockford tournament on Saturday.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Forest Hills Central High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 1 - 7
The Eagles, ranked 5th in the state in Division 3, had no answer for the tough Rangers from FHC who are ranked in Division 2 yesterday. Coach Morey's boys lost 7-1 against the home team, dropping many tough 3-set matches along the way. The only winner on the day was Simon Volkema at #1 Singles.
The Eagles will look to regroup tomorrow against Byron Center and then have another crack at the Rangers on Saturday at the Rockford Invitational.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Forest Hills Central High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 1 - 7
The Varsity Eagles took their first conference loss last night, falling 7-2 to FHC. While the team competed hard at many flights, it came down to performing better during key opportunities that led to the loss.
Junior #1 Singles Tri-Captain Simon Volkema won in a decisive third set, and Junior Christian VandenBerg and Freshman Isaiah Bos won in a third set tiebreak.
The Eagles host Byron Center tomorrow at the Zandee Tennis Center in another OK-White Conference showdown.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Multiple Opponents
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: -
The Eagles Tennis team rolled on Saturday, but couldn't fully defeat the impending rain. Before the rain, however, the boys took care of Division 1 opponent Jenison in convincing fashion 7-1. In like manner, in a huge match with Regional implications, the Eagles defeated the Chix from Zeeland East 7-1.
The rains came and the match with Spring Lake was cancelled, but Coach Morey and the Varsity Eagles considered it a very successful morning.
Big matches this week at FHC on Monday, at Byron Center on Wednesday and a double dual at Rockford on Saturday.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Northview High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Win: 8 - 0
In the Autumn-like weather at Gainey, the Eagles Tennis team stayed unbeaten in the OK White, cruising past Northview 8-0. Simon Volkema, Alex Lowell, Alex Cook and Tanner Warners quickly and quietly dispatched their opponents on the Singles courts. In similar fashion the doubles teams of Cade Boender/Charlie Walters at #1, Sam VanSchepen/Ethan DeBlecourt at #2, Peter Bos/Richard VerHoef at #3 and Matthew Molenhouse/Isaiah Bos at #4 had similar results on the Doubles courts, all winning in straight sets.
It was a different experience for the boys all playing with masks on for the first and probably last time, after Executive Order 180 was issued shortly after the match. Next up for the Eagles is the challenging Zeeland Invitational on Saturday.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Lowell High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Win: 8 - 0
In the first OK-White conference match in many years, the Eagles traveled to Lowell HS for a match with the Red Arrows and came away with a resounding 7-1 victory. Simon Volkema and Alex Lowell had little trouble dispatching their opponents at #1 and #2 Singles respectively. Alex Cook and Tanner Warners had similar results at #3 and #4 Singles, but both overcame early deficits in the second set. All 4 doubles matches went to a third set as teams split the first two sets. Charlie Walters and Ethan DeBlecourt won at #2 doubles, Peter Bos and Richard VerHoef came through at #3 doubles, and the match of the day saw Cade Boender and Sam VanSchepen win a nail-biter (6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3)) at #1 doubles to complete the scoring for the Eagles.
After taking the holiday weekend off, the Eagles return to action on Wednesday against Northview at Gainey, and then every successive Saturday after that as the charge for the State Finals begins in earnest.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Holland Christian High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 0 - 0
The Eagles Varsity Tennis Team continued their hot start to the season, winning the Holland Christian Invitational, beating two fellow teams in Division 3. Holland Christian, Mona Shores, and Haslett were all competitive, but ultimately the team effort put forth by the Eagles from the top to the bottom of the lineup won the day.
Each flight contributed points to the close win, and juniors Simon Volkema at #1 Singles, and Tanner Warners at #4 singles took home flight championships. Volkema took out two stellar opponents in HC and Haslett, and Warners lost less than 5 games cruising to a dominant title.
The team feels truly blessed to be on the court wearing the Eagle blue and knows how fortunate they are to be competing this Fall. We continue to hope and pray for a positive resolution to the current status of MHSAA sports.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Holland Christian High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 0 - 0
The Eagles Varsity Tennis Team continued their hot start to the season, winning the Holland Christian Invitational, beating two fellow teams in Division 3. Holland Christian, Mona Shores, and Haslett were all competitive, but ultimately the team effort put forth by the Eagles from the top to the bottom of the lineup won the day.
Each flight contributed points to the close win, and juniors Simon Volkema at #1 Singles, and Tanner Warners at #4 singles took home flight championships. Volkema took out two stellar opponents in HC and Haslett, and Warners lost less than 5 games cruising to a dominant title.
The team feels truly blessed to be on the court wearing the Eagle blue and knows how fortunate they are to be competing this Fall. We continue to hope and pray for a positive resolution to the current status of MHSAA sports.
Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Rockford High School
3.0 years ago
| Tim Morey
Eagles Lose: 4 - 4
The 2020 Division 3 Eagles Varsity Tennis team was excited to open their season at Rockford High School Wednesday against two Division 1 opponents Grandville and Rockford. The singles teams carried the day as the lineup was shuffled between the two matches, but the Eagles didn't lose a Singles match. The team soundly defeated Grandville 8-0 and tied host Rockford 4-4. More details to follow as they become available.
Next up for the Eagles is the Holland Christian Invitational on Saturday where they will face potential Regional opponents.