This weekend, the Boys Varsity Tennis team competed at the MHSAA State Finals for the second year in a row.  The Eagles finished in a tie for 10th, scoring 6 points based on the results of their matches. At #1 Doubles, Brady Younker and Ajay Biki won their opening match against Trenton, coming back from an opening set loss of 6-4 to win the next two sets 6-3 and 6-1.  They lost to the eventual State Champions from Seaholm in their next match. At #3 Doubles, Cole Bromley and Crick Blakeney followed a similar path.  In their opening match against Wyandotte Roosevelt, they lost the opening set 7-6 only to rally back for the match win by taking the next two sets 6-3 and 6-2.  They also lost to the eventual State Champions from Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern in their next match. Full results:  https://www.mhsaa.com/sites/default/files/Tennis-Boys/2022-23/D2%20BTN%20Finals%20Brackets.pdf

Thursday, the Boys Tennis team competed in the MHSAA Regionals, and for the second year in a row, the Eagles brought home the Regional Champions trophy! Winning results for Lakeland: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) (gold) 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) (gold) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) (gold) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) (gold) 2D- Alex Li (IA) / Will Richart (silver) 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney (gold) 4D- Eli Yen / Nolan Osterhart (silver) Unfortunately our 2S, Nick Pop, was unable to play due to injury, but senior Wyatt Steck filled in and played his best, helping contribute to the overall success of the day. Coach Parsons: "I could write all day about how proud Coach Dungan and I are of these boys, and about how wonderfully they played today, but at the end of the day, what matters is that every one of them played their heart out, and left everything they had on those courts. Lakeland Varsity Boys Tennis deserves the title of Regional Champs, and we can’t wait to see what they do at States!"

  Catching up on earlier action from the Boys Tennis program:  Two weeks ago, Lakeland hosted the LVC Conference tournament. After many many matches, and a hard fought day, Lakeland came out in 2nd place, scoring 18 points, falling one point short of Walled Lake Northern. Winning either gold or silver for Lakeland: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) (silver) 2S- Nicholas Pop (gold) 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) (silver) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) (silver) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) (silver) 2D- Alex Li (IA) / Will Richart (gold) 4D- Nolan Osterhart / Eli Yen (silver) Coach Parsons wanted to especially highlight our 2D, Alex Li and Will Richart, as they took down SLE in the second round of the tournament (6-2) (6-1), after losing to them in the regular season. They then went on to beat Central in the finals, playing the best tennis he has ever seen from them!

On Wednesday, September 28th, the Boys Varsity Tennis team played its final LVC dual match of the season, against South Lyon. Not only was this our last dual match of the season, but it was also our senior night- where we spend extra time acknowledging and appreciating our seniors.  It turned out to be a great day for celebration as Lakeland pulled out the 9-0 win against SL. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop  3S- Joey Swartz (IA) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Alex Li (IA) / Will Richart 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney 4D- Nolan Osterhart / Eli Yen 5D- Shane Hyatt / Wyatt Steck

On Thursday, September 22nd, the Boys Varsity Tennis team traveled to Walled Lake Central to compete in its second to last conference match of the season. Lakeland pulled out the 9-0 win against WLC. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Will Richart / Alex Li (IA) 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney 4D- Nolan Osterhart / Eli Yen (default) 5D- Shane Hyatt / Wyatt Steck (default) Lakeland’s last conference match will be Tuesday, September 27th, against South Lyon. This will also be our senior night, as we acknowledge and appreciate our seniors on the team.

On Wednesday, September 21st, the Boys Varsity Tennis team traveled to South Lyon East to play in its fifth conference match of the season. After a long and hard fought day, Lakeland pulled out the win with a score of 5-4. Winning for Lakeland was: 2S- Nicholas Pop 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney  

On Monday, September 19th, Lakeland traveled to North Farmington to take on another team within our regional. Lakeland put up a fight, but ultimately lost with a score of 3-6. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney Our 3D, Cole and Crick, played their best tennis of the season against North Farmington, showing us coaches what it looks like to play with passion and grit at such a high level of competition. Lakeland’s next match was on Tuesday, September 20th, against South Lyon East, where we look to add another win to our conference record. Go Eagles!

Last Thursday, September 15th, the Boys Varsity Tennis team traveled to Milford for its our annual under the lights match. Lakeland ended up sweeping Milford, as the scoreboard read 9-0 by the end of the night. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Alex Li (IA) / Will Richart 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney 4D- Nolan Osterhart / Eli Yen (photos below) 5D- Shane Hyatt / Wyatt Steck

The Boys Varsity Tennis team competed against Waterford United, on Wednesday, September 14th. With an overall score of 8-1, Lakeland was able to get the win. Winning for Lakeland was: 2S- Nicholas Pop 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) 4S- Shreyas Tallluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Siddharth Saravanakumar (IA) / Jack Fleming 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney 4D- Nolan Osterhart / Eli Yen 5D- default A special shout out goes out to Siddharth and Jack, who played in their very first varsity match ever. They shook off the nerves pretty quickly, and proved to us coaches why they were deserving of a varsity match opportunity. We also want to recognize Wyatt Steck, for stepping up from 5D to 1S. Though losing, Wyatt played a great match, and made Lakeland proud for the efforts and energy he left on the court.

The Boys Varsity Tennis team competed against Walled Lake Western, on Monday, September 12th. With an overall score of 7-2, Lakeland took the win against WLW. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 4S- default win 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Alex Li (IA) / Will Richart 3D- Izak Hill (IA) / Booker Ostach 4D- Eli Yen / Nolan Osterhart 5D- default win A special shout out goes out to Izak Hill and Booker Ostach, who stepped up from JV to secure the win for 3D, but ALSO to Lincoln Cormier who stepped up from JV to play 3S, and Shane Hyatt who played up from 5D to 2S; both of them fought hard and showed the coaches how well they were able to rise to the occasion.

Last Saturday, September 10th, the Boys Varsity Tennis team traveled to our second quad of the year: the Brighton Quad. Here, Lakeland went up against Walled Lake Western, Brighton, and our toughest opponent yet, Ann Arbor Skyline. The quad was a round robin, so everyone got to play everyone. After several hours of match play, Lakeland ended up taking 2nd, with 15 points. Receiving medals for Lakeland were: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) (silver) 2S- Nicholas Pop (silver) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) (silver) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) (silver) 3D- Crick Blakeney / Izak Hill (IA) (silver) 5D- Shane Hyatt / Wyatt Steck (silver) The whole team fought hard, and played great matches. A special shout out goes to Izak Hill, who stepped up from JV and helped varsity secure a silver medal, alongside Crick Blakeney at 3D.

On Wednesday, September 7th, the Boys Varsity Tennis team hosted its second home match of the season against Farmington High School. Through hard work and perseverance, Lakeland took the win that day, with an overall score of 7-2. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Will Richart / Alex Li (IA) 4D- Eli Yen / Nolan Osterhart 5D- Shane Hyatt / Wyatt Steck In this match, we were missing our 3S, Joey Swartz, and part of our 3D, Cole Bromley. The absence of these two allowed for JV players, Lincoln Cormier and Izak Hill, to step up and contribute to varsity. Lincoln fought hard at 3S and took Farmington to a 3rd set, where he came up just a bit short, but played his absolute best and earned a varsity letter. Izak subbed in at 3D and also helped take Farmington to a 3rd set. They came up just short, but Izak played great as he fought alongside Crick Blakeney, and earned his varsity letter. Lakeland's next match will be Saturday, September 10th, as we travel to play in the Brighton quad, where we look to bring home another trophy.  

On Thursday, September 1st, the Boys Varsity Tennis team hosted its first home dual match against Walled Lake Northern. After back and forth winning, Walled Lake Northern emerged with the win over Lakeland, with a score of 5-4. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) Lakeland's next match will be at home, against Farmington High School, on Wednesday, September 7th.

Lakeland tennis traveled to Fenton on Saturday, August 27th, where they matched up with Goodrich, Fenton, and Hartland. In this quad, there were first and second place medals handed out to each flight (only 1-4 singles and 1-4 doubles were invited to play), and a trophy for the team who collected the most points. The flights who received first place medals for Lakeland include: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Alex Li (IA) / Will Richart 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney 4D- Eli Yen / Nolan Osterhart Because of our abundance of first place medals, Lakeland took home the trophy for the day as well. This was our first tournament of the season, and the first Varsity tournament for a lot of our players who came up from JV. Regardless, they rose to the occasion and took care of business.  Our next tournament will be on Saturday, September 10th, at Brighton High School, where we look to keep our winning streak alive.

Last Tuesday, August 23rd, Lakeland traveled to Hartland for our first scrimmage/match of the season. The boys were able to finish the day with a 9-0 win. Winning for Lakeland was: 1S- Noah Weinberger (IA) 2S- Nicholas Pop 3S- Joey Swartz (IA) 4S- Shreyas Talluri (IA) 1D- Brady Younker / Ajay Bikki (IA) 2D- Alex Li (IA) / Will Richart 3D- Cole Bromley / Crick Blakeney 4D- Eli Yen / Nolan Osterhart 5D- Shane Hyatt / Wyatt Steck This was a great way to kickstart the season, and a good experience for our players who are playing Varsity for their first year. We look forward to what the rest of the season brings.