STURGIS — The Sturgis girls tennis team made goals at the beginning of the season.
At the top of the list was returning to the MHSAA state finals. That meant the Trojans needed to hold serve on their home turf as Sturgis was hosting one of the Division 3 regional tournaments.
On Wednesday, despite windy and cold conditions, the Trojans stayed hot on the courts and piled up 28 points to win the regional championship. It was the first regional crown for Sturgis since 2015. Parma Western finished second with 25 points, the Panthers also qualified for the MHSAA Division 3 state finals.
“It means a lot, the girls have really worked hard all season and we have a good senior group who led us here,” Sturgis coach Andy Phillips said. “It’s been a long time coming. The last few years have been tough on us in Division 2 regionals, but we made it a point to succeed again this year.”
Sturgis dropped back to Division 3 this year following several years in Division 2. Additionally, Sturgis dropped a 6-2 match heads up to Western earlier this year, and Phillips said it was nice for his team to rebound from that.
“For us to be able to come out ahead of them today is a lifetime memory for our girls,” he said. “This team has been consistent. We aren’t flashy, and we don’t have anyone that is going to knock the fuzz off the ball, but we play smart, and you can win a lot of tennis playing smart.”
Sturgis is back at the state finals for the first time since 2021, when the Trojans earned two points. Before that, Sturgis last finished inside the top 10 at the finals in 2015 when they tied for seventh.
On Wednesday, Sturgis had representatives in all eight flight finals. That included four regional champions and four runner-ups. Seniors Gracie Perry and Bella Currier both won regional titles as individuals.
“Honestly, this feels awesome. Never in my four years on varsity have we come close to this,” Currier said. “It’s an awesome feeling. We are just so connected as a team, and we are really excited to be going to state.”
Currier is 22-0 on the season at fourth singles.
Wednesday was the final day of high school for the seniors at Sturgis and the Trojan tennis players had to miss it in order to play in the regional tournament.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a bummer, but here we are, going to state,” Currier said with a smile. “I’d say it’s worth it.”
Currier beat Madison Kanouse of Vicksburg 6-0, 6-3 in the finals. To get there, she won matches over Hannah Shull of Edwardsburg 6-2, 6-1 and Emmie Tucker of Charlotte 6-0, 6-1.
Perry won a close match in the finals over Ellie McCollum of Parma Western at 7-6, 6-3. To get there, she won over Ava Vozar 6-3, 6-2 and then Jenna Schramer of Vicksburg 7-6, 6-0.
“It means a lot for us; we have worked so hard to get here. We had a plan at the beginning of the year, and we stuck to that plan,” Perry said. “We reached our goal of getting to state. It took everything we could do as a team to make this happen.”
Sophomore Cora Phillips cruised to a title win at first singles. She beat Chehek Bharatiya of Western 6-2, 6-0 in the finals. To get there, Phillips won over Cameron Fuller 6-2, 6-0 and Jade Phillips of Harper Creek 6-0, 6-1.
Sturgis’ fourth doubles team won a regional title. Lilly Whitehead and Stella Barry defeated Western’s team of Grace Smith and Genevieve Davis 6-2, 6-0 to win the title. Sturgis’ team won over Three Rivers 6-0, 6-1 and Harper Creek 6-1, 6-0 to reach the finals.
Sophomore Mazie Sterling was second overall at third singles. She fell to Elise Howard of Vicksburg in the finals 6-4, 6-3. To get there, Sterling won matches over Estella Peterson of Eaton Rapids 6-2, 6-0 and Taylor Bradley of Western, 6-2, 6-4.
The first doubles team of Katelyn Halling and Mya Eicher finished second as well. They fell to Becca Brushaber and Sophia Nguyen of Western, 6-2, 6-4 in the finals. Eicher and Halling beat Pennfield 6-1, 6-1 and Harper Creek 6-1, 6-4 to reach the finals.
At second doubles, the Sturgis team of Hannah Ritchie and Marlee Smith finished second. They fell to Anna Wilcox and Anna Willinger of Western in the finals at 6-1, 6-2. Ritchie and Smith reached the finals by beating Eaton Rapids 6-3, 6-1 and Harper Creek 7-5 and 2-1, as Harper Creek had to retire in the match because of injury.
Third doubles also finished second. The team of Ella Whitehead and Bailey Cates won over Three Rivers 6-1, 6-0, and then Vicksburg 6-3, 6-1 to reach the finals. There, they were upended by Western’s team of Karly Foster and Natalie Hyde 6-0, 6-2.
The Division 3 finals will be held June 5-6 at the Midland Tennis Center. All four Lower Peninsula state finals will be played there over the course of two weekends.
“We’re all happy with each other, and we have such a close and tight bond with everyone else on the team,” Perry said. “We pushed through it. We knew we could win if we kept pushing and kept working.”
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis tennis heads back to state finals after winning regional title
Reporting by Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
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