Article Photos

Advertisement

MARQUETTE - Jon Hill and Mike Piggott of Marquette Senior High School took one for the team at the start of the boys tennis season by playing at No. 1 doubles.

"I wanted to play singles," said Hill, who won an Upper Peninsula No. 2 doubles title in 2008. "We knew we were going to be strong (at singles) this year and coach (Derek Sandstrom) wanted a good doubles lineup, too.

"I like the decision now."

Hill and Piggott won the U.P. Division 1 crown at No. 1 doubles Thursday over Kingsford's Nathan Winkler-Michael Johns (6-2, 6-3) to help the Redmen pocket the team title.

Using team depth, MSHS finished with 16 points to edge runner-up Negaunee, which compiled 14. Kingsford finished third with 10, followed by Escanaba (6), Menominee (5) and Gladstone (2)

Hill and Piggott joined the No. 3 doubles unit of Eric McAuliffe-Andrew Short as the only MSHS winners at the Shiras Courts, although the Redmen competed in seven finals matches.

"Our depth came through," Sandstrom said. "We would have liked to have had more winners, but I'm happy with what we did.

"We went 14-0 (in dual meets) and won both the (Great Northern) conference and U.P. titles.

"It was a great season."

Negaunee also peaked at the right time, posting three U.P. titles and nearly upsetting the Redmen.

"Coming into today, we looked at Escanaba, Kingsford and Marquette being ahead of us," Miners' coach Kyle Saari said.

"Again, we fought right down to the final match of the day and even had an opportunity to win if we had gotten one more doubles flight.

"The kids played great," he added. "You talk about peaking at the end of a season ... and every single flight did peak at the end of the year today."

No. 3 singles Dave Terzaghi, No. 4 singles Seth Frederickson and the No. 4 doubles team of Preston Paulson-Henry Schrandt all took titles for the Miners.

Escanaba's Jeno Cederna capped his prep tennis career with a 16-0 season record and a win at No. 1 singles, beating TJ Myers of Marquette, 6-1, 6-4.

"My serve was going in a lot - I only had one or two double faults," Cederna said. "If I hit it short, he (Myers) would come in for it a lot more, so I just tried to hit it a little deeper.

"I wanted this one. It definitely makes me happy."

Said Sandstrom: "Cederna keeps the ball real flat. When it came to passing shots, he managed to keep TJ off balance. Today, he was really effective."

Kingsford picked up one U.P. title, that coming from Tyler Szabo at No. 2 singles.

Marquette, 16; Negaunee, 14; Kingsford, 10; Escanaba, 6; Menominee, 5; Gladstone, 2

SINGLES - No. 1 -Jeno Cederna (E) def. TJ Myers (MQT), 6-1, 6-4; No. 2 - Tyler Szabo (K) def. Andy McAuliffe (MQT), 6-3, 0-6, 5-2; No. 3 - Dave Terzaghi (N) def. Connor Greer (MQT), 6-4, 6-3 ; No. 4 - Seth Frederickson (N) def. Russ Kuczwara (MQT). 6-3, 6-1.

DOUBLES - No. 1 - Jon Hill-Mike Piggott (MQT) def. Nathan Winkler-Michael Johns (K), 6-2, 6-3; No. 2 -Aaron Woods-Brett Beland (MEN) def. Andrew Umstead-Troy Anderson (MQT), 6-3, 6-1 ; No. 3 - Eric McAuliffe-Andrew Short (MQT) def. Andy Peria-Jon Nasi (K), 6-1, 6-4; No. 4 - Preston Paulson-Henry Schrandt (N) def. Jacob Gaudette-Alex Hanley (K), 6-2, 6-4.