Glen Lake Tennis Team kicked off a hectic early season with a series of important wins. After starting the season with a win at Haslett High School, they traveled all the way to the Indiana border to play two Division 4 rivals – Allegan and Berrien Springs – which they beat 7-1.
“These teams are universally in the top ten in the state each year, so it’s a good test to see how we will compete this season,” stated Glen Lake Coach Johnny Voss, “I was amazed at how dominant our doubles teams were as all our doubles lineups are new.”
Glen Lake raced home to host Division 3 schools Petoskey and Zeeland East. Both Hawthorn Sutherland, and Michael Houtteman had convincing singles wins against Zeeland East. The 1st doubles team of Ben Romzek and Oliver Mitchell also volleyed their way to a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Against Petoskey, Glen Lake’s #1 singles player Colebrook Sutherland won a thrilling three set tiebreaker victory. The third doubles team of Bryce Cundiff and William Krusel also won in an exciting third set tiebreaker.
“Our match with Petoskey had 6 tiebreakers.” Said Coach Voss. “I can’t say enough good things about how well our team fought. It was sure fun for all the parents and fans that came to watch.”
Two days later, Glen Lake traveled down the coast to compete in the Ludington Tennis Invitational and took home the trophy for the first time ever. Gold medals were won by Houtteman, Cundiff/Krusel, and the four doubles team of Owen Pierce and Kyra Lamb and finally, the second doubles team of Andrew Schopieray and Porter Martin who came back from a big deficit to win in a pressure packed third set tiebreaker over Grand Haven to seal the tournament victory for the team. The tournament ended so even between Grand Haven and Glen Lake that the tournament director had to count out who lost less games over the course of the day and Glen Lake had 14 less.
Coach Voss had this to say. “All day, it was a nail biter between Grand Haven and Glen Lake to see who would bring home the trophy. I was proud of the chemistry, energy and class our team showed. I think it made the difference.”
Glen Lake is 7-1 in team matchups so far this season.
Assistant Coach Bob Sutherland worked on the schedule and had this to say about how things are going, “Our goal was to play as many matches as possible against as many good teams as we could. Coach Voss and I want to thank the school for supporting all our travel and for helping us organize all these matches and hectic schedules. It will make a difference in how we do at states, but more importantly, all this play is character buildingit will make a difference in these young boys’ futures as leaders.”
On Monday, Glen Lake dropped two matches against TC St. Francis and Holland Christian 5-3, 7-1.
Glen Lake sophomore Hawthorne Sutherland defeated Elli Schmude (7-5, 6-1), while junior Ben Selby won 6-4, 6-2 in the three-singles, and at fourdoubles, Owen Pierce and Kyra Lamb won in their match over St. Francis 6-3, 6-4.
