The Glen Lake Tennis Team went out and seized a regional team championship last week in a highly contested tournament with longtime rival TC St. Francis.
The highly ranked Div. 4 teams met in the regional finals in seven out of eight flights.
Glen Lake took home individual titles in five of them.
“I was so proud and happy to watch our team win regionals,” Glen Lake coach Johnny Voss said, “This has been a long term goal for the team since the start of the season. They worked hard all season and it truly paid off. My favorite part about watching all of our regional matches would be to see what great tennis they’re playing and how much they’ve grown as a player since the start of the season. I was especially pleased with how members of our team were able to remain mentally tough throughout many high pressure matches, as mental toughness had been something we were working on a lot more recently as we prepared for regionals.”
The day started out dead even as Glen Lake and St. Francis mowed through the other seven teams in the region. Coming out of the semifinals, Glen Lake was ahead of St. Francis by one point.
Then, Glen Lake lost their first three finals matches to St. Francis that catapulted the Gladiators into the lead by two points. That’s when the Laker toughness took over.
Glen Lake senior Michael Houtteman (21-4) walked off the court with a 6-0, 6-0 regional crown at 3rd singles.
He took just 30 minutes to beat his finals opponent from Saginaw Nouvel. This was Houtteman’s first regional title in his four-year career.
There were four finals matches left – all close nail biters – between the Lakers and Gladiators.
Glen Lake’s Kyra Lamb and Owen Pierce won 6-3, 7-5 in the four doubles matchup. Lamb and Pierce’s victory put the Lakers just one point behind St. Francis for the lead with three matches to go. It was both players first regional title.
“It felt so gratifying to win this title since I’ve worked so hard for it for so many years,” Lamb said.
Glen Lake’s No. 4 singles player Ben Selby celebrated victory next with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 match score to win his first regional title as a junior.
Selby beat his St. Francis opponent for the third time this season to finish with a record of 21-7.
Regionals were tied when Glen Lake’s No. 1 sophomore singles player Hawthorn Sutherland and his long time rival – Gladiator senior Eli Schmude–split sets and were fighting dead even in the third set. “I had this feeling all week that regionals might come down to my match with Eli Schmude,” Hawthorne said.
Sutherland pulled it out 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 to win his second straight individual regional in two tries and also to clinch regionals for his team.
The last team still playing after Glen Lake clinched the title were Ben Romzek and Oliver Mitchell at No. 1 doubles. The Laker duo won the first set, lost a close second set and were down 1-4 in the third, but rode the teams momentum to fight back to tie the third set up at 6-6. The two Laker players started hot in the tiebreaker – bouncing two perfect overheads over the fences on the Gladiators– and playing perfect tennis to win seven straight points. Romzek and Mitchell won 6-4, 5-7, 7-6.
“What a huge team victory. From Hawthorn losing 6-1 in the first set, remaining calm and turning it around into a win to our No. 1 doubles team winning 7-0 in a third set tiebreaker to win the match, every Laker that played today really showed some mental toughness out there and earned the win,” Voss said.
The final standings were Glen Lake 29 points, St. Francis 26, Saginaw Nouvel 13, Midland Bullock Creek 9, Harbor Springs 7, Elk Rapids 6, Essexville Garber 5, Hemlock 1, Frankenmuth 0.
Glen Lake heads to Michigan Division 4 State Finals on Monday October 21st and Tuesday October 22nd.
Lakers head to States
The Div. 4 State Tennis Finals venue is at the Midland Tennis Center, which is as close to Leelanau County as all the possible venues this year, but that still means a two-and-a-halfhour trek to watch the Lakers take on Michigan’s best teams and players.
Glen Lake will be prepared for the travel and the talent as this will be the fifth time this season that the has traveled over two hours to play.
Play begins Monday and will continue through Tuesday.
The final meet of the season will be loaded with well funded private schools across the state. Last year, Glen Lake was the top public school – placing fourth out of 18 teams.
“It’s been our plan to travel to play the best teams from every corner of the state,” said Voss, “We should be prepared for whomever we meet.”
Without a match yet played at the state finals, Glen Lake has already earned the state tournament organizers respect as every player has at least a top five seed.
Topping the standings with a number one seed is Glen Lake senior Michael Houtteman (22-4) playing at third singles. If the seedings go as planned, Houtteman would become the first Laker tennis player to win an individual state championship.
Also having a chance to make history is No. 3 seeded Hawthorn Sutherland at in the second singles position.
The Sophomore, who placed second in the state competition last year, is itching for another chance. Hawthorn finished 21-8 over the season and there is only the difference of a few third set tiebreaker losses between him and the seeds above him.
Senior Kyra Lamb and Freshman Owen Pierce are the third seed at four doubles and could also find themselves atop the bracket on Tuesday.
“They have been playing their best tennis at the end of the season,” Voss said.
Glen Lake has several players with four seeds at the state finals. Laker junior, and four singles player, Ben Selby (21-7)is in a good position to make some noise over the two day tournament. Another Laker fourth seed is at first doubles, where Lake Leelanau St. Mary junior Oliver Mitchel and Glen Lake senior Ben Romzek went 14-13 over this season, playing much bigger schools all year. The final fourth seed is senior Andrew Schopieray and sophomore Bryce Cundiff.
Laker senior Colebrook Sutherland, who has been Glen Lake’s best player since he joined as a freshman will be a fifth seed in a really tough division of private school tennis stars. The Laker three-time allstate tennis player hopes to get to the semifinals, which would improve his record to 19-11.
The third doubles team of Porter Martin and Will Krusel (LLSM) was still under consideration between a three or four seed. The team is 9-5 for the year.
“I am excited to come and compete for Glen Lake and Leelanau County and show we have great tennis up north.” Colebrook Sutherland said, “Being a senior, I am not excited about this state final being my last matches, so I hope this tournament goes on forever.”
