HOLLAND – A sensational finish to the doubles matches propelled the Holland Christian girls tennis team to a conference championship.
The Maroons swept the four doubles flights and claimed one of the singles titles to score 51 points and win the OK Black Conference tournament on Friday, May 8.
Zeeland West finished second with 46, followed by Hamilton (38), Holland (27), Zeeland East (27), Unity Christian (19) and Spring Lake (16).
Holland Christian’s No. 1 doubles team of Kassie Evenhouse and Stella Klooster claimed the flight championship with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Hamilton’s Sophia Blauwkamp and Eran Meiste, avenging an earlier loss to the Hawkeyes during the season.
The other big performance came at No. 2 doubles as Holland Christian’s Hope Bruinsma and Lily Wierenga held off Zeeland West’s Molly Settlemyre and Brailee Bursley, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(1) in a third-set tiebreaker.
“For my seniors (at the top doubles teams), they rose to the level and rose to the occasion. That is what you want to see at the end of the season,” Holland Christian coach Lynn Bender said. “How do you handle pressure? They took it to the next level.”
At No. 3 doubles, Holland Christian’s Izzy Delcalzo and Lucia VanKlompemberg dominated the flight and won 6-0, 6-2 in the finals against Zeeland East’s Kiana Samora and Raeleigh Jones.
At No. 4 doubles, Jadyn Smith and Chloe Dangler beat Hamilton’s Adele Plycraft and Allie VanOmmen 6-4, 6-1 in the finals.
The Maroons got a win at No. 2 singles as Iyla Holmes defeated Harley Brown 7-5, 6-0 in the finals.
“I have eight seniors on the team this year, and I know they were hungry to play well. But every year, it gets closer and closer with the rest of the conference,” Bender said. “It makes us play stronger and work harder. We have had some really close matches and it is rewarding to see the hard work pay off when you come to conference.”
Zeeland West’s Emily Haskill won the No. 1 singles flight. She defeated Unity Christian’s Jayda Velzen, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 in the finals.
At No. 3 singles, Zeeland West’s Halle Reider defeated Hamilton’s Kylie Rietema 6-1, 6-1 in the finals to finish a dominating day.
Zeeland West’s Aneliece Yin won at No. 4 singles, topping Holland Christian’s Evie Traverse 6-3, 6-2 in the finals.
The teams will head to regionals next week.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian girls tennis wins OK Black Conference championship
