On Friday and Saturday, the boys varsity tennis team faced off in the State Tournament. The Rangers played against Portage Northern, Groves, Seaholm, University of Detroit Jesuits, Traverse City Central, De La Salle Collegiate High School, Flushing High School, and Forest Hills Northern, and Okemos, the reigning State Champion. After some tough battles, FHC was able to place eleventh with a total of 8 points.

The Rangers double flights had a successful meet; doubles two, three, and four all made it to the quarterfinals. Doubles three, which consists of sophomores Jeremy James and Ben Koning, were able to win more than one match.

“States was amazing,” Ben said. “It’s a lot better competition than what we normally play, and we tried to not let that go to our heads. We just wanted to do the best we could.”

Jeremy and Ben were able to dominate in their match against Portage Northern. They started the match with confidence and great communication. They were able to win the first set 6-2. In the second set, Ben and Jeremy were able to completely stop Portage Northern and win 6-0. In their next match against Groves, the Rangers struggled in the first set, losing 6-2. In the second set, however, they were able to stay neck-and-neck with them through a tough rally. Ultimately they were able to win 7-6. Unfortunately, Ben and Jeremy were not able to defeat them in the third set, losing 6-2.

Doubles one, which consists of sophomore Chris Battiste and junior Advith Reddy, had a relatively easy first match but a more challenging second match. The first match was against De La Salle Collegiate High School. They began the first set with ease, only having very few errors. They won the first set 6-2. During the second set, the Rangers had to work a bit more, but they were still able to execute and win 6-3. In their second match, against Seaholm, Advith and Chris struggled to gain a lead, and due to that, they were never able to defeat them and lost both sets 6-2.

“We knew what it would take to compete at the top level, and we had to apply that to playing at States,” Chris said. “We had to work harder than we ever had to be able to make a run at States. Even though we didn’t go as far as we wanted, making States meant the world to me. It shows that all the hard work we did is now paying off.”

The single flights had a harder time because none of them were seeded, but four singles was able to play very well. Four singles, which is junior Hans Siebert, was able to dominate in his first match against Flushing High School. He was able to gain a lead early in the match and was able to maintain it throughout the match. He won the first set 6-0 and the second set 6-3. However, in the second set, Hans had a tougher time keeping up with the Groves High School player. Unfortunately, he lost the first and second set 6-2 and was not able to advance farther.

Head Coach Dan Bolhouse was very proud about how far the Rangers were able to advance. He is also ready for next year and is preparing to place even higher in the State Tournament than what they did this year. To do this, he is having the Rangers continue hitting and match-play in order for them to stay in shape and be ready when the next season starts.

“I’m proud of the effort the boys put in,” Bolhouse said. “We played some great teams and every player worked hard until the last point was finished.  We lost a lot of players from 2017 and the boys responded well to the challenge.”