By: Jonathan Szczepaniak | Novi Note | Published June 20, 2023
NOVI — It was a historic showing for Novi High School’s doubles flights at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 State Finals at Hope College June 3.
For the first time in school history, all four doubles flights advanced to the state semifinals round, with doubles flight four advancing to the state championship to help Novi earn fourth at the MHSAA state finals, improving on their fifth-place finish last season.
Sweeping three of four doubles flights at the Region 2 Championship at Novi Middle School, the doubles crew strongly progressed this season, coach Dan Lowes said. Junior Mandira Sardar and sophomore Alice Chen (doubles flight 1), senior Grace Chacko and junior Abi Parivakkam (doubles flight 2), and junior Mahi Sharma and sophomore Rashi Bajpai (doubles flight 3) all earned regional championships in their respective doubles flights.
“All the doubles have worked really well and improved,” Lowes said. “It’s more than just getting the ball. They’re looking for strategies and reading and recognizing plays that other teams are doing, which is always a plus.”
Senior Natalie Restuccia and junior Arushi Singh, who were four seeds in the doubles flight 4, eliminated top seed Troy to advance to the state championship round, where the team would lose in three sets to Division 1 state champion Ann Arbor Pioneer.
Novi’s young guns gave it their all in the singles flights, with freshman Samaara George and sophomore Deb Saha both falling in the first round in singles flights 1 and 2, respectively.
Freshman sensation Rebecca Liu, who was the singles flight 4 regional champion this season, earned a third-seed placement in the tournament and advanced to the state semifinals before losing to Clarkston’s second-seeded Charlotte Partchenko.
Liu showed that she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with for the next three years at Novi.
“During tryouts and watching her play, we noticed she had a lot of variety with her shots and that she was consistent,” Lowes said. “As a freshman, you never know what they’re going to do or how they’re going to mature throughout the season. She’s done a very nice job of that.”
Alicen Liu, a four-star recruit according to tennisrecruiting.net, was unable to compete in the singles flight 1 at the state finals due to an illness, but was able to end her high school career as the regional champion in the flight.
A dynamic competitor in the singles flight 1 for three seasons at Novi, Liu’s departure will be a key void for Novi to fill in 2024.
Junior Haruka Ishibashi, who was eliminated in the second round of the singles flight 3 at the state finals, will headline the leadership group next season alongside Sardar, Parivakkam, Sharma and Singh.
Sardar said she’s ready to take on a senior mentor role.
“Stepping into that as more of a senior and not a junior captain, in a sense, I’ll probably be taking on more of a sense of caring and trying to keep kids in the program,” Sardar said. “For me, that’s what my seniors did. They really tried to keep it as fun as possible and keep my love for tennis going, so that’s my goal for the season next year.”
Now holding three straight regional titles and a Kensington Lakes Activities Association-West league title this season, Novi’s core of youth and veteran leaders will look to make some noise next season as one of the favorites in not just the league and region, but in Division 1 as well.
With historic feats and continued success, Sardar said the team feels it’s starting to be recognized for its accomplishments.
“We definitely do,” Sardar said. “It’s not to say there hasn’t been a lot of talent, but we do feel a lot more excited that we’re gaining recognition for the team and showing all the hard work we do in practice and putting it out on the court. It definitely feels really nice to walk around school and hear, ‘Oh my gosh, congratulations on Novi tennis.’ I never had that my freshman year.”