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MARQUETTE -- Marquette Senior High School put its stamp on the Great Northern Conference meet in the championship matches, winning five of the six it was entered in to capture this high school girls tennis title on Wednesday.
Playing on its home courts, the Sentinels scored 34 points to 28 for runner-up Escanaba. Gladstone was third with 21, followed by Kingsford with 20, West Iron County 10 and Menominee seven.
Each of these teams — except WIC, which was entered in the GNC tourney as a team without a conference in this sport — will play in Wednesday’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals for Division 1 at Negaunee.
The host Miners and fellow Mid-Peninsula Conference member Westwood will join that fray, with the Patriots and Sentinels looking to be the favorites after winning their conference tourneys this week.
WIC will be joined by M-PC members Ishpeming, Gwinn, Munising and Iron Mountain, along with Norway and Ironwood, at the Division 2 finals set for Thursday and hosted by Ishpeming, though its high school courts are undergoing renovation this fall.
That tournament will instead be held at Westwood and Negaunee high schools, with Westwood scheduled to host the finals matches.
On Wednesday, Kingsford won titles at a No. 1 and No 2 singles.
The Sentinels, meanwhile, put their stamp on the GNC finals by winning all three championship matches when they were matched up against players from their closest pursuer, Escanaba.
An Esky sweep of those matches would’ve likely handed the meet title to the Eskymos.
That included Marquette’s Sydney Kuhl downing Escanaba’s Amelia Alimenti 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
“Sydney Kuhl was robotic … en route to her victory,” said Marquette head coach Karl Thomsen.
The other two Marquette-Esky finals matchups came in doubles and were quite closely contested. MSHS No. 2 Eva Dewitt and Charlye Swajanen fended off Esky’s Isabella Noblet and Lily Benetti 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), while Sentinels’ No. 3 Lola Rink and Morgan Downey outlasted the Eskymos’ Emma Landwehr and Cora Dittrich 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
Thomsen was particularly pleased with them, along with the No. 1 doubles tandem of Eva Kentala and Charlotte Thomsen, who posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kingsford’s Mira Johnson and Kylee Woodward in their final.
“Our No. 1 through No. 3 doubles all played a good brand of tennis,” the MSHS coach said. “What impressed me the most was how all three of these teams closed out their matches.
“At No. 1 doubles, it was great to see Eva Kentala and Charlotte Thomsen turn up the gas in the second set.
Marquette’s other title came from No. 3 singles player Nora Skytta, who needed three sets to dispatch Gladstone’s Lilly Ketchum, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0.
And the Sentinels’ coach also had good things to say about the MSHS player who lost in the finals, No. 2 singles player Kirra Longtine, who was bested by Maddy Sleik of Kingsford, 6-1, 6-3.
“Kirra Longtine and Nora Skytta really outkicked their coverage,” Thomsen said, using a football metaphor. “Both girls were (No.) 3 seeds … with Kirra reaching the finals and Nora taking home the title.
“Nora was on a mission today, as the kids would say, she was a ‘dawg’ out there … knocking off the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds.”
In the other two finals not involving Marquette, Kingsford’s Aubrie Moore carted off the No. 1 singles title over Esky’s Anna Martin, while the Eskymos’ Alexa DeGrand and Ava Jackson played another three-setter to defeat Gladstone’s Miranda Drielich and Reese Lovell at No. 4 doubles.
TEAM SCORES -- 1. Marquette 34, 2. Escanaba 28, 3. Gladstone 21, 4. Kingsford 20, 5. West Iron County 10, 6. Menominee 7
Championship matches
SINGLES -- No. 1, Aubrie Moore (K) def. Anna Martin (E) 6-2, 6-0; No. 2, Maddy Sleik (K) def. Kirra Longtine (MQT) 6-1, 6-3; No. 3, Nora Skytta (MQT) def. Lilly Ketchum (G) 7-5, 3-6, 6-0; No. 4, Sydney Kuhl (MQT) def. Amelia Alimenti (E) 6-1, 6-0
DOUBLES -- No. 1, Eva Kentala-Charlotte Thomsen (MQT) def. Mira Johnson-Kylee Woodard (K) 6-1, 6-2; No. 2, Eva Dewitt-Charlye Swajanen (MQT) def. Isabella Noblet-Lily Benetti (E) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5); No. 3, Lola Rink-Morgan Downey (MQT) def. Emma Landwehr-Cora Dittrich (E) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2; No. 4, Alexa DeGrand-Ava Jackson (E) def. Miranda Drielich-Reese Lovell (G) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Negaunee 6,
Kingsford 2
Negaunee pulled off a 6-2 home victory over Kingsford on Thursday in the final dual meet of the season for the Miners.
Negaunee, which finished with a dual-meet record of 14-1, was coming off a runner-up finish to Westwood at the Mid-Peninsula Conference meet a day earlier.
Negaunee head coach Megan Kerkela was encouraged in Negaunee’s loss by Stella Lenten to the Flivvers’ Aubrie Moore, 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
“Stella knew coming into (Thursday that) Aubrie was going to be a tough opponent, but she hung with her and played some great tennis,” the coach said.
Each of the Miners’ victories came in two sets, while the No. 1 doubles team of Paige O’Donnell and Olivia Richards that lost extended their match to a third set. Kingsford’s Mira Johnson and Kylee Woodward won that one, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
SINGLES — No. 1, Aubrie Moore (K) def. Stella Lenten 6-4, 6-0; No. 2, Addie Chapman (N) def. Maddy Sleik 7-5, 6-4; No. 3, Lucy Rogers (N) def. Aubrey Bellmore 6-0, 6-2; No. 4, Katie Carlson (N) def. Chloe Lanning 6-3, 6-4
DOUBLES — No. 1, Mira Johnson-Kylee Woodward (K) def. Paige O’Donnell-Olivia Richards 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; No. 2, Maia Brunette-Aubrey Harper (N) def. Natalie Bjorne-Verity Martin 6-2, 6-3; No. 3, Bree Helppi-Audrey Hahn (N) def. Alice Hall-Myla Beauchamp 6-0, 6-1; No. 4, Emme Niemi-Sydney Jarvi (N) def. Claire Rutter-Alexa Hearn 6-2, 7-5