One Reeths-Puffer singles player and two R-P doubles teams won flight championships last weekend at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tournament, the top event of the local high school tennis scene.
Hope Latsch posted a 3-0 record and won the No. 2 singles title. Kaitlyn Durow and Ava Dietz (No. 3 doubles) and Makayla Smith and Jayla Brink (No. 4 doubles) did the same in their flights.
Their success helped the Rockets finish in a strong second place in the team standings. They fell short of repeating their 2024 championship, however, totaling 45 points, four behind first-place Mona Shores.
Latsch cruised through her first two matches, defeating Western Michigan Christian's Mia DeJonge 6-2, 6-0, and Fruitport's Emma Fecher 6-2, 6-1.
No. 2 singles champion Hope Latsch
She had to battle in the finals against Mona Shores' Ella St. Martin, losing the first set 5-7, then winning the second set 6-4 and the tiebreaker 10-3.
Durow and Dietz had a similar path, beating Fruitport 6-3, 6-0 and Whitehall 6-1, 6-3, then going to a tiebreaker with Mona Shores.
They won the first set 6-3, lost the second 3-6, then won the tiebreaker 10-7.
Smith and Brink had an easier time, beating North Muskegon 6-1, 6-1 and Fruitport 6-0, 6-0, then downing Mona Shores 6-4, 6-3 in the finals.
R-P doubles champions Makayla Smith, Ava Dietz, Kaitlyn Durow and Jayla Brink
The Rockets had two flight runners-up - Molly Matz at No. 3 singles and Mylie Neel at No. 4 singles.
Malania Eilers and Gabrielle Borgeson (No. 1 singles) and Elana Weiden and Lauren Matz (No. 2 doubles) also had good days, posting 2-1 records.
"Really proud of the lower double flights who dominated on the day and upset teams they lost to during dual matches," said R-P Coach Ryan Hankinson. "Hope Latsch reached her 11th win in the last 14 matches after having that 0-7 start.
"We had several extremely close matches that single-handedly could have made us champions over Shores, but we just could not get over the hump. It was just not meant to be on a beautiful day of tennis. I will always feel like we let a repeat slip through our fingers, but we need to be happy with a solid runner-up finish and celebrate the girls who individually had their best day of tennis ever."