Team Effort Driving Lahser Tennis Program

The varsity boys tennis team just keeps getting better.

Last year, the Knights finished second place in the Oakland Activities Association White division and 14th in the Division 2 state finals. 

Flash forward a year and the boys have a league championship under their belts. They finished with a 6-0 record in dual meets and won the league tournament.

Head Coach Greg Burks is hoping for a similar jump in the standings at the state finals this weekend in Kalamazoo.

“We did great in our league, we ended up finishing first,” Burks said. "Last year, we came in second and this year the goal was to win it outright. We stuck to that and did well. The other goal is at the state finals and I’m hoping to be in the top 10. If we get right around 10th place that would be great.”

If Lahser’s third-place performance at regionals is any indication, it has a pretty good shot. The Knights won three flights at the tournament that also featured two other state final qualifiers – Andover and North Farmington. 

“The guys played well above my expectations,” Burks said. “I think how they played well during the season, but they played unbelievable at regionals.”

Max Hemmrich won No. 1 singles, teammates David Gwizdala and Michael Daniels won No. 1 doubles and A.J. Smith and Matt Meehan won No. 2 doubles.

At the state finals this weekend, Burks top two teams will have very different roads to success. Hemmrich’s draw is a tough one according to Burks.

“My No. 1 singles has a tough draw, he plays Flushing (Adam Alamah) in the first round which is fine, but then he would play Jim Beckwith from Battle Creek Lakeview in the quarters,” Burks said. “My No. 2 singles played him last year and it will be tough to get around that guy.”

Beckwith is a No. 3 seed and he was the individual champion in No. 1 singles last season.

Burks has a better feeling about the draw his No. 1 doubles team has. Gwizdala and Daniels are a fifth seed and will play Trey Pezzetti and Sean Soupiset from Traverse City Central to open the tournament. If they win they play either Okemos (Kyle Haak and Elan Dantus) or University of Detroit Jesuit (Connor Maks and Evan Beale).

“They’ve played solid all year round” Burks said. “ They stack up well against their first few opponents.”