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Playing the Patriot Games: Rivalry swings back to Westwood for 1st U.P. finals title since ’21

Rivalry swings back to Westwood for 1st U.P. finals title since ’21

NEGAUNEE -- Westwood and Negaunee are located 10 minutes apart, so they play plenty of tennis against each other, whether it's routine dual meets or the bigger ones with conference and Upper Peninsula championships on the line.

The Miners have been the ones winning the majority of those meaningful meets in recent years, including putting the last four MHSAA U.P. Finals championships in Division 1 in their name.

This, however, was Westwood's year.

The Patriots won the finals on Wednesday for the first time since 2021, the last championship before Negaunee's streak started.

Westwood did it by claiming titles in five of the day's eight flights. 

That was enough for the Patriots to secure the title despite not having finalists in the other three flights. Westwood totaled 18 points to 15 for the runner-up Miners, who had finalists in six flights.

Escanaba was third with nine, while Marquette and Kingsford tied for fourth with five points apiece, each having one finalist. Gladstone was sixth with three points, while Menominee scored one.

Their mentality was the key to the Patriots' success this year, WHS head coach Sarah Zindler said, and it showed in the way they went played against the Miners.

"They weren't scared to play Negaunee, they were excited to play Negaunee," she said. "They were up for the challenge, they wanted to compete.

"When they were down in a match, they had that mentality of, 'I can still win this,' not the defeated (attitude) after you lose a point.

"That can sometimes be hard, especially for seniors on a U.P. Finals day where they know it's their last matches."

Eliisa Doney is one of those seniors. She talked about seeing Negaunee lifting trophies in front of them in recent years. So, yeah, this one felt pretty good.

But regardless of the rivalry, she won at No. 2 singles after playing doubles the majority of her high school career. Her last memories of tennis at Westwood are pretty good.

"I've never been (a U.P. champion) individually or as a team before, so it's an incredible feeling that I've never felt before," she said.

Doney played doubles as an underclassmen, missed her junior year with an injury and then filled a spot as Westwood battled other injuries this season. She beat Negaunee's Addie Chapman 6-2, 7-5 in their flight final.

"She just took on the challenge and her first couple matches were a little rocky, but she had that competitive attitude of, 'I'm gonna figure it out,'" Zindler said. "And now she's a U.P. champ." 

So are many of her teammates.

Westwood's Emmi Carlson won No. 3 singles and finished the season with just one loss. Despite that, she trailed Negaunee's Lucy Rogers 5-2 in the first set of the final.

"And she told us, 'I got this, I'm gonna win this set 7-5,'" Zindler said. "And she won the set 7-5. And that's how she's been all season. If she loses three or four games, she's like, 'It's fine, no big deal, I got this.'"

Carlson won 7-5, 6-2.

Westwood's Isabel Belpedio beat Negaunee's Katie Carlson in the No. 4 singles final to become a champion. Belpedio went undefeated in her first year on varsity.

"I played a calm, consistent game," she said. "I just played my best, and I gave what I had. It feels pretty great ... like all the hard work I put in definitely (paid) off."

"She has also just been steady and confident and knows how to play her game, doesn't try to do too much and doesn't let the other girls get in her head," Zindler added. 

The Patriots' No. 3 doubles tandem of Emerson Williams and Samiah LaFreniere came out on top over Negaunee's Bree Helppi and Audrey Hahn in their final, despite entering as the third seed. They had lost to Negaunee just last week.

Williams was a part of the winning No. 4 doubles team last year. Since then, she suffered an injury and had to play this entire season left-handed, her non-dominant hand.

"They played a great semifinal match, and then in finals just looked like they were confident. They played the net well, they played smart from the back," Zindler said. "They weren't the unexpected victory but the wild card that we really needed today for our team."

The winning No. 4 doubles team was Westwood freshmen Jenna Marana and Brie Mahaffey, who just picked up a racket during the summer.

"From the start of the season until now, they have just continually grown and improved," Zindler said. "I just kept saying, 'You guys are going to be there, you just got to keep working on it.' And today, they’re the best (No.) 4 doubles team."

Kingsford junior Aubrie Moore repeated as a U.P. champion with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win in the finals over Escanaba's Anna Martin at No. 1 singles.

"I'm feeling good, I'm really happy and I'm glad," Moore said. "It's my second year, so I'm just really proud of myself. I think I really improved on my serving, and my forehand has gotten a lot better."

Moore and her entire Flivvers' team played with "We Play For Her" shirts with the initials GM in honor of her mom Ginger, who died after battling cancer earlier this year.

"Obviously my mom was by my side the whole time and helped me get through this and win," Moore said.

Negaunee's No. 1 doubles team of Paige O'Donnell and Olivia Richards won as juniors, defeating Marquette's Eva Kentala and Charlotte Thomsen 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 in their finale.

O'Donnell said the Sentinels have been tough for them and she was focused on doing well in their match to help out their entire team.

"We played Marquette a couple times, it's always been super competitive, always super back and forth, usually going to some tiebreakers," Richards said. "We were kind of expecting that going into it, but we saw their weaknesses in the first set and we knew we had to capitalize on those while also working together."

Negaunee's Maia Brunette and Aubrey Harper defeated Escanaba's Isabella Noblet and Lily Benetti for the No. 2 doubles title.

Jason Juno is the sports editor of The Globe of Ironwood. This report was taken from the Michigan High School Athletic Association website at www.mhsaa.com.