No. 1 TC St. Francis sweeps regionals
May 21—TRAVERSE CITY — The hottest day of the spring season was no match for the No. 1-ranked Traverse City St. Francis girls tennis team Thursday.
The Gladiators battled the heat and humidity for the first time this season while dominating the Division 4 regional they hosted. TC St. Francis won all eight flights, defeating eight other teams that hail from northern Michigan.
It was, however, still a special day for Elk Rapids — which qualified for state finals for the first time in school history with a second-place finish.
"It's just a really cool thing for the girls," first-year Elks coach Keith Schulte said. "They had a teachable spirit."
The Gladiators amassed 32 points on the day, followed by Elk Rapids (19), Harbor Springs (17), Manistee (7), Grayling (5), TC Christian (5), Charlevoix (5), Boyne City (4) and East Jordan (2).
"It was a long day today because the weather was hot," TCSF head coach Dane Fosgard said. "Although the scores don't appear close, there were a lot of closer matches than the score indicates. Being outside in the heat all day was a really good test for us."
The Glads had seven of their eight flights breeze through without losing a set and Fosgard said the experience they got from Thursday was invaluable.
TC St. Francis' "Big Three" have been trouble for opponents as they have combined to lose only four games between the top three singles flights. Lily Bobrowski sits at 21-4 in the No. 1 singles flight, Alexi Lewis is 25-0 at No. 2 singles and Jillian Sodini is 25-0 at No. 3 singles for TCSF. The rest of the team has combined to record a 69-28 record.
"It's been a very successful year so far and we don't take anything for granted," Fosgard said. "Even though we won all eight flights, it is still a big win for us. We saw a lot of tremendous improvement from some of our new players."
Fosgard said his team hopes to surpass the sixth place team finish in 2019 and they are excited to have a chance to play at individual state finals as well. The boys were forced to compete in a team-only finals last fall but loosened COVID-19 restrictions allow the girls to go back to the normal format.
The Glads and much of their region will be back in action on Tuesday for the Lake Michigan Conference championships.
Elk Rapids boasted a squad of 12 players, six of whom were new to the sport. The addition of Spanish foreign-exchange student Inez Lotorre at No. 1 singles definitely helped. She's posted a 10-2 record this season, with both losses to Bobrowski.
DIVISION 1 at Midland
Traverse City Central extended its impressive streak of qualifying for the state tournament to 39 years with a second place finish at the Division 1 regional at Midland Tennis Center Thursday.
The Trojans tied with Grand Blanc for second place with 22 points. Midland Dow won the region with 27 points. Traverse City West fell just short of qualifying with 14 points, which was good enough for third place. Teams that place first or second in the regional or score at least 18 points qualify for states.
Midland Dow swept all four singles flights but the Trojans were able to take three of the four doubles flights.
Kyla Welch and Natalie Bourdo won the No.2-doubles flight with wins over Holt (6-0, 6-0), TC West (6-0, 6-2) and Grand Blanc (7-5, 6-1). TCC's No.3-doubles flight of Lauren Berry and Grace O'Connor beat Grand Ledge (6-1, 6-0), TC West (7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-2) and Grand Blanc (6-3, 6-1) to take the flight. Maria Linck and Carly Galsterer finished the day with a win at No.4-doubles with wins over Holt (6-1, 5-7, 6-3), TC West (6-1, 6-0) and Midland Dow (7-5, 5-7, 6-2).
"We were seeded to get 20 points and we actually exceeded expectations," head coach Shane Dilloway said.
The Trojans have no more competitions before state finals at Okemos/Mason on June 4.
Follow Jake on Twitter @JakeAtnip
