Hey WO Tennis Family, Today was hard in every way that a day can be hard. And it was awesome in every way that a day can be awesome. The temp got up to 88 degrees on a day when to win a Regional Title, you have to win three consecutive matches. There were MANY talented teams in the 10-team field. But in the end, it was a familiar story for this season...two top-10 teams in Michigan battling for a title. So I guess let's start at the beginning and work towards the end? QUARTERFINALS In the quarters, both West Ottawa and Rockford came out the gates hot. In this round, each of the 4 seeded teams at each flight play an unseeded team. West Ottawa took care of business and won each of their 8 quarterfinal matches fast. On the adjacent courts, Rockford was doing the same. It was morning at this time, and the temp was already starting to heat up, lots of tennis still to go. Onto the semis. SEMIFINALS - WEST OTTAWA EDITION A little after noon, the semi's began. Now West Ottawa and Rockford would each have to play seeded teams to advance to the finals of their respective halves of the draws. The weather is now around 80, with the court temp higher as the sun baked the concrete. Most of our girls were cruising quickly through their matches, often faster and better than I had anticipated given the high quality of the opponents we were playing. But there were also signs of tough things to come. At three doubles, Aleah Feliu and Olivia Smith found themselves in the a tough 3 setter with a highly talented Hudsonville squad. At one doubles, Eden Hamilton and Maggie Rothstein battled to beat Hudsonville in two closely contested sets. The two of them played their best tennis at the highest pressure points in each set though, a theme that carried through the day for us. In the end, all 8 of West Ottawa's flights advanced to the finals...mission accomplished in round 2. SEMIFINALS - ROCKFORD EDITION Again, on the adjacent courts, Rockford also had to win a bunch of tough matches to get their girls into the championship matches. In truth, Rockford had to fight a little harder than us to get into all of the championship matches. Not because they played poorly, but the competition was just really strong from all the talented teams. Maya Clark, Rockford's 1 singles player went into the conference tournament the 4 seed. Her strong play at conference earned her a 3 seed, and a match with the talented 2 seed Kendra Price from Grand Haven. I've watched Maya for years at Rockford, and this was the best performance I've seen from her. At 3 singles, Rockford's Grace Ferry also had to play a player she'd lost to perviously in the season. Again, great tennis, and she made it though. In the end, Rockford got every single flight through to the final, setting up a situation I've never experienced in 21 years coaching...two teams getting every flight into the championship round. Rockford showed just how strong and resilient they are are, and that they were ready to battle. CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND - WEST OTTAWA vs ROCKFORD With the each team having accumulated 24 points to get to the final, there were three ways the story could end. If we each won 4 matches, we'd share the Regional Championship. If either team won 5 or more, they would take the title outright. Let's go through the finals in the approximate order they finished, or at least as best as I can remember:) The temperature is now 88. 2 Singles - Danielle Lebster (WO) vs Sophie Burns (Rock) It ended first because Danielle played some of the best tennis of her life. Zero advice given from coaches during the match, because that's exactly the amount of advice that was needed. Danielle is potentially the fastest player I've ever coached, and her lungs I imagine are the size of a basketball. Exactly what you'd want as your superpower in a 3rd match of the day in extreme heat. There are going to be a few finals matches where the score seems lopsided. Don't let that fool you into thinking any of these played poorly. Sophie is talented and fought very hard. In the end, Danielle took the flight championship 6-2, 6-1. West Ottawa 25, Rockford 24 1 Doubles - Eden Hamilton / Maggie Rothstein (WO) vs Alayna Gee / Avery Marchlewski (Rock) - Doubles is the strength of Rockford's squad, and 1 doubles is by definition their very best doubles team. Gee/Marchlewski have hardly lost a match all year, and are probably one of the best doubles teams in the history of our region. Eden and Maggie are incredible in their own right, having taken down state powers like Bloomfield Hill, Troy, and Eisenhower already this season. Definitely one of the heavyweight matchups of the day. The upside is that this match produced some of the best points of the day. Eden and Maggie played with poise and confidence, and produced incredible tennis. However, no matter how good you are, life doesn't always deal you a win. Rockford took the match 6-2, 6-2 in an epic showdown. West Ottawa 25, Rockford 25 4 Singles - Kayla Jones (WO) vs Ella Fix (Rock) Two amazing talents. Kayla the strong, fast, hard-hitting senior with every shot in her toolbox. Ella, the talented freshman able to play incredibly consistent ball. This is a match where I think both players leave feeling encouraged. Kayla got to show the crowd the incredible game she has developed in her years at West Ottawa, and wow what a display. Ella got to flash a glimpse of what's to come in her 3 remaining years with grit and determination. In the end, Kayla's experience and development were the difference maker. A 6-3, 7-5 win for West Ottawa was the outcome, and a tournament lead for the second time. West Ottawa 26, Rockford 25 1 Singles - Evie Price (WO) vs Maya Clark (Rock) A week ago the 4th best singles player in the Region, Rockford's Maya had now overtaken two players to make the final. Incredible. West Ottawa was waiting, and ready. Simply put, Evie was ready for this match. Like Danielle, no coaching was needed. Because Evie is such a humble human being, I'd like to say this on her behalf...Evie Price is the most talented player in this region this year, and she showed it again today. She appears to be swinging easily, but the ball bursting off the strings suggests otherwise. I participated in point play with Evie at practice last week, and find it difficult to create a winner against her. Everything comes back, and usually with interest. Sophomore Evie Price took the 1 singles Regional Title today, defeating Maya Clark 6-1, 6-1. West Ottawa 27, Rockford 25 2 Doubles - Juniors Kallyn Gual / Lovelle Kim (WO) vs Lydia Brown / Kayleigh Koster The matchup is what makes this contest great each time. Two evenly matched doubles teams, both highly talented in slightly different ways. Kallyn and Lovelle can maintain a high level of play for long stretches of time. Rockford's level of play will vary more, but when they are at their best, they've been a problem for us. An example was a week ago at the conference tournament. While Kallyn and Lovelle won the match, Rockford showed their top level for a stretch and crushed us 6-0 in a set. The question was, would Rock get to their top form, and if they did, could we handle it? In today's match Rock came right out of the gate with their best tennis. In not a lot of time, we had dropped the first set 6-1. And we played well, it's just that Rockford is so talented. Lovelle and Kallyn had a choice to make...would they change their game up or to trust and commit to the current plan of playing high percentage, steady ball. They knew they needed to stay the course, and produced two sets of incredible tennis. Rockford played to their strengths, and also played well. Credit to Lovelle and Kallyn for persevering, and for beating two accomplished players over the subsequent 90 minutes, beating a terrific Rockford team 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. West Ottawa 28, Rockford 25 At this point in the tournament we have now clinched at least a share of the Regional Title. There were three matches on court, and Rockford would have to win all 3 to tie for the title. We needed one more to clinch the outright title. Now that you are certainly hooked enough to read till the finish, let's take a moment to celebrate some others who make an event like this rock. Starting with Kate Greco and Haylee Geerlings, and their parents, who were there from dawn till evening supporting everyone and, quite frankly, making the day more fun for everyone. They are perfect teammates and immense talents. And how about our amazing assistant coaches??? Coach Pip, first WO coach to string a racket during a tournament in program history. To Brian, our hype train, but also wise and stuff. Or Borski and Bentley, for raising the quality of information we can give the girls on changeovers. Hey Andy, did you see how well our girls physically handled three full matches in that heat? How about that! Coach Hannah getting the middle schoolers out there. Many of those young ladies will be competing in this event someday, and experiencing it now will help them when that day comes. Or our parents, who were their super cool selves, even negotiating for a new tent while giving their kids and us coaches A+ support. Ryan Lebster for helping me with goal setting:) And our Athletic Department and Trainers for running the tournament as smoothly as Wimbledon. Courtney Paff for organizing Senior Night activities. Is there a better AD out there than Bill Kennedy...nah!!! And how about all those incredible middle school and JV players and community members who were at the courts supporting our girls!?! It's almost makes you feel that in life, individual accomplishments are actually group ventures where we support and work together. Crazy huh!!! Anyway, back to the action on court...can Rockford win the last three matches to tie us for the Regional Title? Can we take one more match to win the title outright? 3 Singles - Jessica Zhang (WO) vs Grace Ferry (Rock) In my opinion this is Rockford's strongest singles flight. There isn't that much separating Grace from their #1 singles player in ability. A freshman, she is able to make ball after ball, and yeah, she also can put some zip on it and crack a winner when the situation calls. Which by the way, describes Jessica very well also. The two split in their two prior meetings, with Grace winning the duel match and Jessica winning at the conference tournament. At the regional, it was another back and forth. Jessica jumped ahead to take the first set, doing Jessica things. Grace returned the favor in set two. In the third set, hats off to Grace for taking the match, and kudos to Jessica for fighting hard to the end. Rockford claimed the 3 singles flight 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. But they still need the remaining two matches to catch us. West Ottawa 28, Rockford 26 4 Doubles - Freshmen Audrey Anderson / Mallory Paff (WO) vs Carlie Wegener / Sadie Debski (Rock) This is Rockford's flight with the best record on the team. They are 23-2, with their only losses coming to Northville and Eisenhower, two teams thought to have a chance at winning the D1 state title this spring. In each prior meeting, Audrey and Mallory have battled strong, even taking them deep into a 3rd set at the conference tournament last Saturday. Our two freshmen to continue to battle as hard as they do is a testament to their talent and immense potential. In the first set, they played Rockford to a tiebreaker. However, Rockford edged out the breaker and pushed through in the second set for a 7-6, 6-1 victory. Kudos Audrey and Mallory for getting us to a regional final in your first year on varsity, your future is bright. West Ottawa 28, Rockford 27 One match remaining. A Rockford win creates a tie for the Regional Title. A West Ottawa win gives us the title outright. Everyone at the facility now crowded around one court, one flight...three doubles. 3 Doubles - Aleah Feliu / Olivia Smith (WO) vs Sage Brownwell / Halle De Man (Rockford) Let's start with Senior Aleah Feliu. Amazing career at West Ottawa, tons of wins, tons of talent. One problem...in all her years on JV and Varsity, she has never recorded an individual win over Rockford. Her partner is Liv, a freshman with immense talent and potential, but has lost to Rockford in their two prior meetings with Aleah. Can she handle the pressure of this moment with 60 parents, players, and coaches huddled around one court vocally supporting their side? Can they do something they've never done in the highest pressure situation they've ever faced on court? In the first set, the answer was a resounding yes, to the tune of 6-1. But at this time, the crowd is still small...other courts are still battling. In set two, the crowd grows as other matches finish and it becomes clear that 3rd doubles will likely be a decisive match to the outcome of the tournament. Rockford comes out the gate strong, and Aleah and Liv both show signs that this moment might be too big for them. Their confidence and level of play drops as Rockford's grows. Rock claims the second set 6-2. The third set will decide the outcome of the tournament. It is at this point that the entire facility is now surrounding their court. Aleah and Liv have a tough decision to make. Are they going to display outward confidence and trust in themselves despite the circumstances, and despite how they might be feeling internally? Can they block out the surroundings, and do something they've never done? After the first game of the deciding set, the outcome was in doubt, but one thing was clear...Aleah and Liv were ready to battle to the end. They struck the ball hard and crisp, and moved faster than I've seen all match. They approached each point with their shoulders back, standing tall, and bouncing with confidence. Now up 2-0 with Liv to serve, an area that has admittedly been shaky for Liv at times this year. She stood to the line with confidence and hit nearly every serve in at full speed. In the deciding point of the game, a fire truck blared it's sirens in the background as Liv fired an out-wide service winner from the ad court...3-0 WO. As for Aleah, she was everywhere on court, displaying amazing leadership. As the stakes rose, she moved even faster and hit even more confidently. Liv followed her example and did the same. Smart returns from both, and great serving, two games later we led 5-0. After a hold from Rockford to make it 5-1, Liv was once again serving, this time in high wind conditions as a storm was rolling in. It didn't matter. She kept stepping up to the line and delivering strikes. Aleah was cleaning everything up at the net that came her way. Minutes later, Aleah and Liv did something they've never done, beat Rockford 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, and with the stakes as high as they could be. Final Score: West Ottawa 29, Rockford 27 A seventh straight Regional Title to follow their 8th straight Conference Title last week. A third victory in three weeks over the 7th Ranked team in Division 1. Suppose you asked "of all the regional titles our girls team has won over the years, what was the best team we've ever had to beat to do it"? The answer would be the 2025 Rockford squad. We really do need to tip our cap to their players and coaches. They pushed us to the brink, and if this tournament was played out 10 times, they certainly would win their share. Knowing they are working hard pushes us all year round to do the same and become better versions of ourselves. The top two teams in each region advance to the State Finals, and I'm proud to be representing our region alongside the Rams in two weeks at the State Finals. As we wrap up this post and begin training for a State Finals, let's finish by recognizing our six incredible Seniors: Aleah Feliu Kate Greco Eden Hamilton Kayla Jones Danielle Lebster Jessica Zhang Thanks for everything you do for this program ladies, we love you so much. Congratulations to you and the entire team! -Coach Pete Schwallier