Negaunee High School reached the championship match in all eight flights to capture the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals title in Division 1 high school girls tennis on Wednesday at Westwood High School. The Miners edged the host Patriots by a single point, 19-18, to capture its fourth straight championship and first under rookie head coach Megan Kerkela. In the front from left are Olivia Richards, Nicole Kerkela, Rheana Nelson, Lili Saunders, Addie Chapman and Sadie Rogers. Top row from left, head coach Megan Kerkela, Maia Brunette, Paige O'Donnell, Clare O'Donnell, Stella Lenten, Tori Poutanen, Rebecca Lammi and assistant coach Emma Miller. (Photo courtesy Megan Kerkela)

ISHPEMING — Negaunee was focused on getting to the championship matches in all eight flights at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals in girls tennis.

And the Miners only won the team title because that’s exactly what they did.

Negaunee took the U.P. Finals team championship for the fourth straight year, edging Westwood by a single point, 19-18, in Wednesday’s tournament held at the Patriots’ courts in Ishpeming.

Marquette was a distant third with six points, while Escanaba had five points, Kingsford four, and Gladstone and Menominee two apiece.

Despite having all eight finalists, Negaunee only picked up three titles — at No. 2 singles and Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. Westwood, meanwhile, had championship contenders in six flights, winning four at Nos. 3 and 4 singles and the same Nos. 3 and 4 doubles.

The other title went to Kingsford at No. 1 singles.

But all the extra points that the Miners picked up earlier on from making more finals was enough to put them over the top.

“Every girl knew their job was to make it to finals and then play their best tennis and leave it all out there,” Negaunee first-year head coach Megan Kerkela said. “I am so proud of every flight for going out and doing just that.

“We had three flights end in a win, but it was a team effort. Without every girl making the final, we would not have been able to pull out a win.”

She’s carrying on the tradition brought about by previous head coach Kyle Saari, whose girls teams had either been U.P. Division 1 champion or runner-up every year going back to 2012.

On this first day of October, the Miners’ Rheana Nelson overcame a first-set loss to defeat Westwood’s Morgan Schneider 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles championship match. 

“Rheana Nelson had the longest final of the day,” Kerkela said. “She was the first to start and the last to finish.

“Rheana hadn’t been in a third-set situation yet this year, but anything can happen at U.P.s. Today she was able to play one ball better and show how consistent she can be.”

Clare O’Donnell and Nicole Kerkela took the No. 1 doubles title in another three-set finals win, this one over Escanaba’s Aubrey Elliot and Brooklyn Hackleman, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. 

“(No.) 1 doubles might have had the best comeback of the day,” Coach Kerkela said. “They were down 1-4 in the third set, but they did not quit.

“Nicole had some great shots at the net, which were really a turning point in the match. Clare did a great job of staying consistent at the baseline and played smart tennis.”

And Sadie Rogers and Olivia Richards took down Westwood’s Makenna Olson and Ella Stacy, 6-4, 6-3, in the No. 2 doubles championship match.

“(They) were unstoppable all year and they continued that through today,” the Negaunee coach said. “They are a fierce combo, both strong athletes who aren’t afraid to be aggressive.”

Westwood coach Sarah Zindler was pleased to get the most championships of any team, despite the team loss.

“I thought our team played great today,” she said. “I know we lost by one point, but we actually won four finals.”

None of the Westwood winners played on the Patriots’ senior-heavy varsity roster in 2024.

“I think just all season they developed so much because everything was new to them,” Zindler said. “And so their growth was a lot higher than someone that’s been there forever.”

Westwood’s Lyn Magnuson won the No. 3 singles final 6-2, 6-0 over Negaunee’s Stella Lenten in their finale. Magnuson finished the season undefeated at that flight with the win.

Zindler said that Magnuson, a sophomore, was never satisfied — if she won 6-3, 6-2, she wanted to win 6-1, 6-1 next time.

“I think that helped her focus — when you get up in a match, instead of giving up a few games because it’s no big deal, she had these goals for herself within the match, of ‘No, I don’t want to drop more than a game in this set,'” Zindler said. “And all season long, she was just impossible to beat.”

Patriots junior Emmi Hamel took the No. 4 singles title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Miners’ Adelyn Chapman. 

“Emmi, at (No.) 4 singles, is one of the most competitive girls on the team,” Zindler said. “And she just has some fire and spunk in her that you know that when she goes out there, she’s going to compete for every single point whether she’s winning or losing.”

Hamel won matches against Negaunee twice during the year but lost to Chapman in the Mid-Peninsula Conference meet last week.

“From that, she just mentally had to get herself in the right head space, to be confident enough to go out there and just say, ‘I’m not losing today,'” Zindler said. 

Westwood’s Tessa Burke and Emmi Carlson won 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in the No. 3 doubles final over Negaunee’s Victoria Poutanen and Rebecca Lammi. The Patriots’ duo lost their first set in the semifinal to Marquette’s Charlye Swajanen and Eva Dewitt, and they were down three games in the second set before coming back to win 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Burke and Carlson are both freshmen who picked up a racket this summer for the first time. They went to summer camp and played in open-hitting sessions.

“I could just tell by how they developed, and mentally they’re both athletes playing other sports, that they just had the mental capabilities to jump into a varsity lineup, which is not an easy thing as a freshman, especially when you’re the only freshmen on the team,” Zindler said. “I just said (to them) from the start, you two are going to play together and you’re going to figure it out.”

Westwood sophomore Emerson Williams and junior Lauren Michaud-Richards won the No. 4 doubles final over Negaunee’s Paige O’Donnell and Maia Brunette. Williams and Michaud-Roberts had not beaten Negaunee before, but they did at the most important time.

Williams was new to the tennis team this year.

“She hadn’t played before, so when she first started the season, she wasn’t necessarily the best player, but she just developed so much quicker than people that had played before,” Zindler said. “And I noticed right away that she had an athleticism, especially at the net, that you can’t really teach people. Just her ability to read the ball, paired with Lauren’s great ground strokes from the back.”

They were up and down all season, but Zindler said the coaches knew their potential was great.

“To see them finally put matches together … I’ve never seen them play as well as they played today,” Zindler said. “There’s no better time to play your best than at U.P.s.”

Zindler was also impressed with Schneider at No. 2 singles. Nelson hasn’t lost in years, Zindler said.

“Morgan has had to play her a bunch of times, and today she pushed her to three sets,” Zindler said.

Kingsford’s Aubrie Moore defeated Negaunee’s Liliana Saunders 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles for the Flivvers’ lone flight title.

U.P. Division 1 Finals

Wednesday at Westwood

Team scores — 1. Negaunee 19, 2. Westwood 18, 3. Marquette 6, 4. Escanaba 5, 5. Kingsford 4, 6. (tie) Gladstone and Menominee 2 each

Championship matches

SINGLES — No. 1, Aubrie Moore (K) def. Liliana Saunders (N) 6-2, 6-1; No. 2, Rheana Nelson (N) def. Morgan Schneider (W) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; No. 3, Lyn Magnuson (W) def. Stella Lenten (N) 6-2, 6-0; No. 4, Emmi Hamel (W) def. Adelyn Chapman (N) 6-3, 6-4

DOUBLES — No. 1, Clare O’Donnell-Nicole Kerkela (N) def. Aubrey Elliot-Brooklyn Hackleman (E) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; No. 2, Sadie Rogers-Olivia Richards (N) def. Makenna Olson-Ella Stacy (W) 6-4, 6-3; No. 3, Tessa Burke-Emmi Carlson (W) def. Victoria Poutanen-Rebecca Lammi (N) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2); No. 4, Emerson Williams-Lauren Michaud-Richards (W) def. Paige O’Donnell-Maia Brunette (N) 6-2, 6-2

Jason Juno wrote this summary of the U.P. finals for the Michigan High School Athletic Association website, www.mhsaa.com. He is the sports editor of the The Globe newspaper in Ironwood.