West Bloomfield, Adams, Stoney Creek punch tennis finals tickets
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — As the completion on adjacent courts dwindled down, Jordan Asher knew that it would be close. What the West Bloomfield junior didn’t know that his match carried some significant weight.
Asher, a junior, outlasted Charles Xu of Rochester Adams, 6-1, 6-2 in the finals of the No. 3 singles flight to send his team to its first regional championship in numerous years. Without the win, the Lakers would have finished second.
In the end, West Bloomfield totaled 26 total points, just one point ahead of Rochester Adams’ 25 points. Rochester Stoney Creek collected 21 points to finish a close third, as the top three teams at Thursday’s Division 1 Rochester regional qualified for the state finals.
“I knew that that the score was close, but I had no idea that my match decided it. I know my teammates were all along the fence watching,” said Asher. “It’s exciting.I know we were second her last season to (Birmingham Brother) Rice. But it wasn’t close. This year we are regional champs. That’s what we came here to do.”
RETURN TO SENDER: Rochester Adams Charles Xu volleys the ball during play in the No.3 singles flight at Thursday's Division 1 regional at Rochester.Staff Photo By Dan Stickradt
The top two teams, additional teams scoring 18 or more points, and all finalists at No. 1 singles advance to the Lower Peninsula Division 1 state finals Oct.14-15 at Midland Community Tennis Center.
“I knew this would be very close,” said Larry Stark, West Bloomfield’s veteran head coach. “We beat them in a dual match 5-4 and they beat us by three at the league meet. I had a hunch that it would come down to only a couple of points and this time it was just one point. So Jordan’s win was obviously huge for us.”
Rochester was fourth in the nine-school standings with nine points, while Walled Lake Central (5), Lake Orion (4), Clarkston (3), Waterford Kettering (1) and Waterford Mott (1) rounded out the team scores.
West Bloomfield’s Andrew Kahn, one of the state’s top players, won the No. 1 singles crown with a 6-1, 6-1 sweep of Stoney Creek’s Nick Fiaschetti. The Lakers won three flights overall and finished second in four others to rack up a bulk of their points.
West Bloomfield, Adams and Stoney Creek combined for each of the finalists in all eight flights.
It marked the 10th straight season that Adams has made the state finals cut, although this is the first time in Division 1 in a decade. The Highlanders had competed in Division 2 since the early 2000s.
“I am ecstatic for this team. We have a great run going,” said veteran Adams coach Al Must. “I didn’t know how we’d do being up in the top divisions for the state tournament. We had a lot of new guys. But we kept getting better and better. Now, we have five guys who will be gaining experience in their first trip to the state finals. That is good for our future.”
Adams produced flight champions in two singles flights. Freshman Justin Hyman defeated West Bloomfield’s Kevin Rothstein at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, while No. 4 player Rahul Jain swept West Bloomfield’s Eli Zucker 6-4, 6-1 in the finals.
Adams captured two doubles flights as well, while West Bloomfield and Stoney Creek produced one regional champion apiece in the doubles flights.
Adams’ Juhun Lee and Stephen Wang prevailed in the No. 1 doubles finals with a three-set, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 triumph over West Bloomfield’s Andrew Simon and Adrian Villa. Tim Wu and Zhibin Zeng of Adams followed suit at No. 2 doubles, topping Dakota Redshaw and Ben Li of Stoney Creek, 6-2, 6-1, in the finals.
West Bloomfield’s doubles champ came in the No. 3 flight, as the tandem of Gabe Villa and Daniel Eilender topped the Stoney Creek duo of Aaron Hinchman and Derek Beahm in three sets, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4.
Stoney Creek’s sole flight win of the day came at No. 4 doubles, where Andrew Bismack and Erik Figura posted a 6-4, 6-4 sweep of Max Sandberg and Daniel Wu of West Bloomfield.
Stoney Creek was fourth at the regional level last season after qualifying in 2009. A tougher schedule aided the Cougars’ cause this season.
“I really think that playing in the OAA Red (Division) helped us a ton. Just playing all of those great teams made us that much better,” offered Stoney Creek coach Heather Redshaw. “Last year we won the OAA-White, but this year playing better competition really prepared us for the regional.
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Category: Clarkston, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek
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