Local Sports: Bedford tennis headed to state for first time in 20 years

ALLEN PARK – Bedford’s boys tennis team is headed to the state finals for the first time since 2002. 

The Mules earned their trip by taking second place behind Wyandotte Roosevelt Thursday in the Division 2 Regional hosted by Allen Park. 

Noah Kaplan won a No. 1 singles title for the second straight year and Jaxon Nejedlik brought home a championship at No. 2 singles. 

Vince Cole was the runner-up at No. 3 singles. 

Every member of Bedford’s team won at least one match. 

The Mules will play in the state finals in Midland Oct. 14-15. 

Gibraltar Carlson was one point away from qualifying for state. 

The Marauders reached the finals at all four doubles flights.  

Ben Witkowski and Matt Vizachero won the title at No. 4 and John Hojnowski-Nick Riley, Trey Fields-Nico Reach and Preston Eighmey-Isaac Kolasa all were second. 

PREP TENNIS

Milan's Bowman to state

GROSSE ILE − Milan's Matt Bowman qualified for the state finals after finishing runner-up at No. 1 singles during Thursday's Division 4 Regional.

The Big Reds finished one point shy of qualifying for state as a team, placing third with 17 points.

The No. 2 doubles team of Tyler Denham and Nate Bowman were Regional champions. Zach Fink (No. 2 singles) and Luke Morse-Zach Farmer (No. 4 doubles) also were runner-up.

"I am proud of the team and the way they played today," Milan coach Nate Rodriguez said. "They've had a great season."

Monroe season ends

ANN ARBOR − Monroe wrapped up its season with a fifth-place finish in the Division 1 Regional at Ann Arbor Pioneer Thursday.

Azariah Duran scored for the Trojans at No. 1 singles, advancing to the semifinals before falling to Anthony Van Oyen of Ann Arbor Skyline.

Skyline was Regional champion with 18 points.

PREP VOLLEYBALL

Monroe defense shines

DEXTER − Monroe's defense stepped up to slow down Dexter in a 27-25, 10-25, 26-24, 10-25, 15-10 victory Thursday night.

"Obviously, the set scores show the up-and-down battle we had," Monroe coach Angela Tedora said. " Kids fought hard and I am proud of their effort. When things got difficult they stayed together as a team.

"We do not have a go-to, put-away hitter. so we have to work harder on defense and be smarter with third-ball placement. We have been talking about it and our control a lot, and, at times, we are doing that a bit better. In the sets we won, we were able to prevent Dexter from going on runs greater than three points."

Anna Tedora led the defense with a team-high 23 digs, Ally Younglove had 20 digs and 5 kills, Merin Merkle hit .428 with 4 blocks, Alana Aulph contributed 14 assists, 8 digs and 2 aces, Brynn Reece had 12 assists, 10 digs and 2 aces, and Addy Simmons added 4 aces. The Trojans had just one service error over five sets.

Dexter won the freshman match 25-21, 25-12, 17-15. Oliva McMahon led the Trojans.

Mason gets revenge

ERIE − Erie Mason travelled to Whiteford to open its league season in early September. The Bobcats won that match in four sets.

Mason returned the favor on its own home court Thursday, defeating Whiteford 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23.

Angela Sweeney had a great night for the Eagles with 25 digs, 11 kills, 9 points and 2 blocks. Cameron Zaleski had 19 digs, 12 points and 6 aces, Beth Sweeny put up 9 points, 7 kills and 2 blocks, Brooklyn Langenderfer recorded 24 assists, 12 points and 7 kills, and Geneva Bomia added 10 points with 4 aces.

Mason improved to 5-2 in the Tri-County Conference.

Mason won the junior varsity match 25-13, 25-23, 15-4. Raelynn Lay, Clara Tibai, and Alina Shields played well for the Eagles.

Bulldogs bite Patriots

BRITTON − Kailee LaPlate recorded 12 kills, 11 digs and 7 service points to lead Summerfield to a 25-15, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16 win over Britton Deerfield Thursday.

Faith Secor (18 points, 4 aces) and Sophia LaRocca (11 points, 5 aces) also impressed from the service line. LaRocca added 5 kills and 6 digs, and Julia Fietz finished with 8 kills, 6 digs and 6 blocks.

Summerfield improved to 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the TCC.

Summerfield won the JV game 25-18, 25-12, 15-9. Mia Miller, Skyler Johnson, Addie Spoering, and Mia Samples played well for the Bulldogs.

PREP SOCCER

Jasso leads Carlson

GIBRALTAR – Luis Jasso scored a pair of goals and assisted on another as Gibraltar Carlson beat Dearborn Divine Child 4-2 Thursday.

Kyler Ostrowski added a goal and an assist, Aidan Malec scored a goal and Zack Walder logged an assist for the 11-6-1 Marauders.

Dunn scores for Monroe

Austin Dunn’s unassisted goal was the only offense Monroe county muster in a 3-1 home loss to Ann Arbor Skyline Thursday.

“Very creditable performance from a hastily reshuffled team,” said Monroe coach Ian Cook. “Result overshadowed by season-ending injury for senior Logan Janes with a broken collar bone. It’s a huge blow as he has been in great form all season.”

Nik Heringhausen and Manuel Diaz played well for the Trojans and junior varsity player Tobin Becker was pulled out of the bleachers at halftime so that Monroe had a sub.

PREP SWIMMING

Monroe drops times

ANN ARBOR – Monroe lost 149-36 to powerful Ann Arbor Skyline Thursday, but coach Erin Dowen liked what she saw.

"We have been focused on gradually increasing our yardage throughout the season,” Dowen said. “It was great to watch these ladies push through tonight and post some great performances, despite their hard 5:15 a.m. workouts this morning.”

Top performances came from Nikki Rykse, Natalie Synowiec, Olivia Synowiec, Katie Murphy and Delani Willey.