(Chelsea Update would like to thank Matt Pedlow for the information in this story as well as the photos.)
The Chelsea Girls tennis team competed at the MI State Finals for the 7th straight season last Friday in Holland.
The girls finished the tournament tied for 7th in the state and earned a total of 10 points. This ties highs for us in both categories, and Chelsea finished as the 3rd highest ranked public school in the state, another first for us.
Six of the 8 flights won their first round matches, it was great because it was the first point earned at states for our 1 and 2 doubles teams.
“The joy on their faces was wonderful to see,” said coach Matt Pedlow. “Unfortunately, both of them ran into the #1 seeded Cranbrook team in their second match. However, they both played great against a very good Cranbrook team,” the coach said.
Cranbrook’s 2 doubles team won the state title, and the 1 doubles team lost in the finals.
“Our girls hung right with them for much of the match but they proved too tough in the end,” Pedlow said, adding, “I’m very proud of the way the our 1 doubles team of Morgan Moore and Kendall Tucker and our 2 doubles team of Maddie Pedlow and Julia Schachinger played in both matches.”
Our 3 doubles team of Madelynn O’Hara and Maddisen Chinavare won their first match before losing to Allegan 6-3, 6-1. “Both girls had a great time playing a very good Allegan team, they danced and laughed during the match. I love watching girls play who truly enjoy being out there on the courts,” Pedlow said.
Our 4 doubles team of Gretchen Kuras and Corrine Dale also lost in their 2nd match to the #3 seeded Grand Rapids Christian High School 7-5, 6-1.
“The girls played their best match of the season and put quite a scare into the GRCH team. Corrine kept up the enthusiasm and the girls played as a team today, I’m proud of their development into a fine doubles team,” Pedlow said.
At 1 singles, Kelsie Weinreich lost to Western 6-2, 6-2.
“Kelsie has run into a lot of great players at 1 singles this season, but she has always kept up a good attitude,” the coach said. “We really don’t get the type of player that a lot of teams gets at 1 and 2 singles, a lot of these girls have played since they were very young and have private coaches. Kelsie played a nice match but was overpowered in the end.”
At 2 singles, Kyra Van Batavia dropped her match against Hamilton in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
“Kyra started the match slow and found herself down a set early, but battled back to take the second set,” Pedlow said, adding, “The Hamilton player, however, seemed to get to everything and frustrated Kyra who thought she was hitting winners. “
At 3 singles, Emma Catalina won her first-round match against a good Whitehall player before losing to a great Allegan girl.
“Emma is the one player we’ve leaned on over the past 3 seasons to win matches for us, she is always in every match regardless of how strong the player is,” Pedlow said. “She is really going to be missed. Today, she just ran into a better player but she played gutsy tennis and took a lot of risks and almost came away with the victory.”
The story of the day however was Carli Martin at 4 singles.
“Carli went into the first round playing a seeded player from Allegan, but played amazing and won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3,” her coach said.
“Carli frustrated her opponent throughout the match and just played a fantastic match,” he said.
She then moved into the quarterfinals against the #3 ranked girl from Cranbrook and won 6-3, 6-2.
“This was the first victory over Cranbrook in the history of our program, and Carli controlled the match throughout,” Pedlow said.
She went back to play again on Saturday in the semi-finals.
“This is only the second time in our program we’ve had a player move on to the semis, the first was in 2013 when Sam Jabara and Jordan Jacobs played at 3 doubles,” Pedlow said.
Martin played the #2 ranked player from Forest Hills Eastern, which turned into a match of identical styles of play.
“Carli battled, but her opponent had a beautiful drop shot which proved problematic as Carli has battled knee pain all season. She moved Carli all over the court and Carli ended up losing. We’re so proud of her progress this season however,” Pedlow said.
