With two flights still to be decided at Thursday's Division 4
regional tournament in Holland, both entering the semifinal rounds,
Whitehall needed three more wins to qualify for state as a team. The
Vikings got them.
With a clutch 6-4, 6-2 win over top seed
Evan Disselkoen of Holland Christian in the No. 3 singles championship
match, Evan Schuitema secured his team's place at state, as the Vikings
won a three-way tiebreaker for third place at the regionals, therefore
earning a state spot for the first time since 2019. The finals will take
place Oct. 21-22 at the Midland Tennis Center.
The
Vikings scored 12 points and won a tiebreaker over Western Michigan
Christian and North Muskegon, who also hit that number behind state
qualifiers Holland Christian and Grand Rapids West Catholic.
Whitehall coach Greg McManus said the tiebreaker came down to set
winning percentage. The Vikings, who went 18-15 in sets played, earned
the edge over North Muskegon, which had a .500 record (16-16) in sets
played.
"I brought (the players) back behind the courts to
talk to them and let them know after I officially found out," McManus
said. "Because it was a tie and no one knew what was going on, I let
them know. They were extremely excited, jumping up and down and
screaming."
In past years, only the top two teams at a
regional meet qualified for state. This year, because fewer schools
statewide were playing tennis, the number of regionals in each division
dropped from eight to six, and now the top three teams from each
regional can qualify.
In addition to Schuitema's two
wins - he also defeated No. 3 seed Toby Minnema of NorthPointe
Christian, 7-5, 6-1 - the No. 3 doubles pair of Evan Thomas/Elijah
Roberge won a semifinal match over Caleb Kooistra/Arend Clark of
NorthPointe Christian, 6-4, 6-4 to earn a pivotal 12th point.
Both Schuitema and Thomas/Roberge were seeded second in their flights, the highest seeds earned by any Viking.
McManus
said he talked to both flights before their semifinal matches, letting
them know the team could make it to state if they won their matches but
trying to do so in a way that kept the pressure off them.
"'I don't want you to think it's on you if we don't (make it),'" McManus said he told his players. "'If you play your best
and you lose, that's fine, and if you play your best and you win, we
have a shot.' I tried to take the pressure off them, saying, 'You have to
keep doing what you're doing and we'll see what happens when it's done.'"
Schuitema's
regional title at No. 3 singles is the result of significant
improvement over the course of the season. McManus said Schuitema has
worked very hard at cultivating a scrappy, defensive style of tennis;
the coaches noticed early in the season that he had a knack for putting
the right spin on the ball to keep opponents off balance. The junior
will likely work to add more offensive skill in the offseason in
anticipation of moving up in the singles lineup next year, but for 2024,
his best chance to be successful was on defense.
"He
bought in, and it's working," McManus said. "That's how he beat a
Reeths-Puffer kid (Cory Judd) at the city meet that he'd previously lost
to. Once he bought into that, he's been really tough."
Schuitema
struggled early in his first match against unseeded Kyle Carpenter of
Grand Rapids West Catholic. The match went to a third set, and Carpenter
was leading it 4-1 when McManus checked in with Schuitema and reminded
him of that defensive mindset. That mentality carried him through the
rest of the day.
"I wanted him to focus mentally on one
more ball, not on what was at stake," McManus said. I wanted him to
focus on defense and keep hitting one more ball. (In the finals,
Disselkoen) kind of ran out of answers. He was trying to overpower
(Evan) and he couldn't sustain it...(Schuitema) got him off his game and
ended up rolling over him in the second set."
Also for
Whitehall in the regionals, Brady Tate, who was seeded fourth at No. 2
singles, won a second-round match in straight sets - he received a
first-round bye - to reach the semifinals.
The Vikings' other
wins came from No. 1 singles player William Burger, No. 2 doubles pair
Jon Hall/Myles Welch, and No. 4 doubles pair Adam Sikkenga/Remington
Whelpley. Each were unseeded and won a first-round match.
McManus
said the team is hoping for a top-10 finish at state, and believes it's
achievable with high-level play and a little matchup luck.
"Hopefully
the (No. 3 flights) can get seeded somewhere and we can have some luck
with the draw," McManus said. "We have a good team, so if we go out and
play like we've been playing and have a little bit of luck, I don't
think top 10 is out of the question."
