Why this was the best high school girls tennis season in area history despite no titles – Lansing State Journal

We have had tennis teams and players win state championships over the years, but this might be the best girls tennis season the Holland area has ever produced.
History was made by multiple teams, several teams made state – and the two that didn’t were not far off. Each team that did make state earned a top-10 finish.
Top-to-bottom, this was the deepest pool of talent across the area with no weak link among local teams.
More: West Ottawa girls tennis finishes fifth at D1 state, freshman reaches finals
Let’s break down the different parts of the season that made this the best.
First, the history makers.
Zeeland West claimed its first regional title and qualified for state as a team for the first time in program history.
The Dux soared to ninth at the Division 2 state finals.
In Division 1, West Ottawa finished fifth to claim its first-ever top-five finish at state.
The Panthers have been perennial top-10 teams for the past couple of decades, but usually end up in the 7-8-9 range.
Meanwhile, in Division 3, Holland Christian swept all eight flights in the regional tournament for the second year in a row, something that has never been done in the area.
There were several flights across the board that made deep runs in the state tournament.
West Ottawa freshman Sydney Shafer put together a breakthrough performance in her first state tournament, reaching the finals at No. 3 singles.
Her freshman teammate Izzy Gitler reached the state semifinals at No. 2 singles, while Audrey Anderson and Olivia Smith did the same at No. 3 doubles. Maggie Rothstein reached the quarterfinals at No. 4 singles, while Kallyn Gaul and Lovelle Kim reached the quarters at No. 1.
Zeeland West sophomore Aneliece Yin made the state semifinals at No. 4 singles in Division 2.
Meanwhile, teammate Halle Reider made the quarterfinals at No. 3 singles, while Brailee Bursley and Molly Settlemyre did the same at No. 2 doubles and the No. 4 pair of Abby TenBroeke and Natalie Lauritzen also reached the quarters.
In Division 3, Hope Bruinsma and Lily Wierenga reached the state semifinals at No. 2 doubles. Kassie Evenhouse and Stella Klooster reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 doubles, while Iyla Holmes at No. 2 singles and Evie Traverse at No. 4 singles reached the quarters.
Hamilton’s Erin Meiste and Sophia Blauwkamp reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 doubles.
With all of the success, there is also a “what if?” factor for the area this year.
Holland and Zeeland East have moved from Division 2 to Division 3 and back at times, depending on enrollment.
This year, they were at Division 2 and had strong showings at regionals but did not get to state.
Had they been in Division 3 in Holland Christian’s region, they would have finished behind the Maroons but likely had the points to qualify given their records against like opponents.
A sweep of qualifiers has not happened on the girls side. The boys side was close a few years ago when Holland Christian and Zeeland West took the top spots at the Division 3 regional and Holland and Hamilton tied for the third spot with enough points to qualify. Zeeland East didn’t qualify but its No. 1 singles player Brady Schanski did as an individual. Along with West Ottawa making state at Division 1 that year, every school was represented for the only time in area history.
If enrollment was a little different, we could have had a girls version of that historic year.
But it was the deepest pool of talent that girls tennis has seen – and with only seven of 30 singles players graduating, this group is just getting started.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as  Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.   

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