Apparently nobody expected Reeths-Puffer senior Hope Latsch to contend for another individual championship at Saturday’s Greater Muskegon Athletic Association tennis tournament.
Despite the fact that she won the title last year, she came into the tournament seeded fourth in her flight, which made her a very big underdog indeed.
But Latsch stunned everyone by beating the first and third seeds, posting a perfect 3-0 record and winning her second straight No. 2 singles championship.
GMAA champion Hope Latsch
Her path to the title was not easy, to say the least.
Latsch played Western Michigan Christian’s Sophia Fries in the first round. She won the first set 6-4 and lost the second 2-6 before winning the tiebreaker 10-5.
She played Mona Shores’ Kendra Hylland in the semifinals. She won the first set 6-2, lost the second 5-7, then battled back from a 1-5 deficit to win the breathtaking tiebreaker 10-8.
Olivia Smith
All of that took Latsch to the championship round, and amazingly she had enough energy left to beat Fruitport’s Emma Fecher 6-3, 6-1 to claim the title.
Hylland was seeded first at No. 2 doubles while Fecher was seeded third, but neither of them could beat Latsch.
“Hope played three great matches,” said R-P head coach Morgan Pfhistner. “Her determination and perseverance really set the tone for her overall performance. We are all so proud of her!”
Kaitlyn Durow
Latsch’s second championship was the highlight of a good day for the R-P girls team, which finished in third place in the seven-team field, just one point out of second.
Mona Shores won the championship with 48 points, followed by North Muskegon (40), Reeths-Puffer (39), Fruitport (34), Whitehall (33), Western Michigan Christian (18) and Muskegon Catholic Central (10).
The Rockets took second place in three flights.
Lauren Slater and Grace Cosens
R-P’s Olivia Smith was the runner-up in No. 1 singles, beating North Muskegon’s Pressley Prasad 6-4, 6-2 and Muskegon Catholic’s Sophia Muskovin 6-2, 6-4, before falling to Fruitport’s Josalynn Nowicki in the finals.
Kaitlyn Durow was the runner-up in No. 4 singles, beating Whitehall’s Savanna Koernke 6-1, 6-1, then battling back to beat North Muskegon’s Anahera Leos 5-7, 6-1, 10-6. She lost to Mona Shores’ Kourtlyn Hellman in the finals.
R-P’s Lauren Slater and Grace Cosens were the runners-up at No. 4 doubles. They had to work extra hard, beating Whitehall 6-2, 2-6, 10-5 and North Muskegon 6-4, 0-6, 10-6, before falling to the team from Mona Shores in the finals.
Latsch and all the runners-up won medals for their efforts.
“The entire team gave their all, all day long,” Coach Pfhistner said. “They showed off their skills and great sportsmanship. They are awesome!”