By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
The Allegan girls tennis team hosted the Tiger Invitational on Saturday, April 18. And it was a who’s who of Division 4 teams, as it featured three ranked squads, including top-ranked Ann Arbor Greenhills.
The Tigers are fourth Allegan and Lansing Catholic in No. 10.
In the end, Greenhills took the team title with 21 points, followed by Allegan with 17 and Lansing Catholic with 15. North Muskegon (11), Armada (5) and Comstock Park (3) rounded out the standings.
Leading the way for Allegan were No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.
The No. 2 team of Taylor Fuller and Hanna Kievit captured the flight title, while the No. 3 duo of Sophia Augustine and Emma Scheffler also finished first.
“I have to give a shout-out to our 2D and 3D teams,” Allegan coach Damien Arthur said. “Taylor, Hanna, Emma and Sophia really played some of the best tennis of their careers against Greenhills in the championship matches.
“Their energy, teamwork, and coachability rose their excellent play another level.”
Allegan also had a number of strong finishes throughout the lineup.
Addy Fales placed runner-up at No. 1 singles, while Ava Thompson was runner-up at No. 4 singles. The No. 1 doubles team of Madison Cook and Ireland Dewey also finished second.
No. 2 singles Camdyn Drozd and the No. 4 doubles team of Kaylee Haas and Hailey Gauthier both placed third. Kendall Halstead was fifth at No. 3 singles.
Poor weather conditions caused a delay at the start of the event, as only the four indoor courts could be used.
“The ladies did not let the slow start affect their level of play,” Arthur said. “We played some high level tennis against some high level opponents.
“I’m super proud of the way we played against Ann Arbor Greenhills across the board. We didn’t enter those matches scared. We stuck to our goal: to compete and make them earn it.”
Arthur said the performance was something to build on moving forward.
“Their energy, teamwork and coachability rose their excellent play another level,” he said. “I’m just super proud of what they achieved.”
A day earlier, the Tigers traveled to Western Michigan University and came away with a pair of wins over SAC/Lakeland Conference foe Hackett and state qualifier Lumen Christi.
Allegan defeated Hackett 8-0 and followed with another 8-0 win over Lumen Christi.
“We made a strong statement tonight in our conference with a strong performance versus Hackett,” Allegan coach Damien Arthur said.
Allegan’s depth, particularly in doubles, proved to be a key factor throughout the day, while a pair of comeback efforts at singles highlighted the win over Lumen Christi.
“The matches of the day go to our three and four singles,” Arthur said. “Both of which lost tough first-set tiebreakers against Lumen Christi, but rallied behind Coach Liv to secure two wins in match tiebreakers.”
Halstead played No. 3 singles, with Ava Thompson at No. 4.
With the victories, the Tigers improved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play heading into the Tiger Invitational.
