Country Day tennis back on top in D3, beats out reigning champ Cranbrook

BEVERLY HILLS/BLOOMFIELD HILLS — As an assistant coach last year, Detroit Country Day girls tennis head coach Nicholas Fiaschetti looked on as Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood was crowned the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 state champions by a two-point differential.

It was Cranbrook’s second-straight title and another installment in the neverending matchup between the two Division 3 heavyweights.

“It’s a fun little atmosphere for the two of us, I’ll say that,” Fiaschetti said. “There’s a lot of interesting battles we’ve had over the years.”

Previous to Cranbrook’s back-to-back wins, Country Day was riding a five-year span of championship titles, with Cranbrook as the runner-up in three, countering Cranbrook’s five-year run from 2011-2015, with Country Day taking second twice.

When one of the schools has a streak, the other is always there to spoil the fun. With Cranbrook seeking a three-peat, the ball was back in Country Day’s court to play the villain role and exact revenge.

On June 1 at Kalamazoo College, Country Day’s four-point victory of second place Cranbrook would give the Yellowjakcets its seventh state title since 2010.

“It was one of those where it was really hard for me as an assistant (last year), because we were so close to beating them, and then what happened was they (Cranbrook) returned their entire lineup this past year that we just finished,” Fiaschetti said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I felt we were kind of the underdogs because we had lost five. For us to go in there and end up with the win was a huge thing for us.”

Country Day dominated the singles bracket, winning three of four flights courtesy of junior Sophia Grzesiak (singles 1), sophomore Helen Benjamin (singles 3) and junior Katie Han (singles 4).

Grzesiak beat out Cranbrook’s Sienna Ilitch, the reigning singles flight No. 3 champion, in round three, while Han defeated Cranbrook’s Olivia Zhang, the reigning single flight No. 4 and top seed in the bracket, in the state finals.

Wins such as those completely turned the tide of the leaderboards, since Cranbrook countered with three of four first-place finishes in the doubles bracket.

“If you were to tell me that (three singles titles) would happen at the beginning of the season, I would’ve told you that you were crazy,” Fiaschetti said. “It just seemed like the way that the players had improved in the offseason and how much they played and how hard they worked in the season made it possible. It was awesome to see, especially for Helen, since she lost a year ago in the finals at (singles) four. Then she steps up this year and decides to win it. For Katie (Han), who I had at four, she beat a girl from Cranbrook who hadn’t lost since April 28 of 2022. That was a huge win for us that she beat that girl.”

Freshman Quinn Norlander (singles 2), younger sister of senior Marin Norlander, added to the singles group’s success with a runner-up finish, proving to be one of the more talented singles players in Division 3 in her first year.

Fiaschetti said Quinn Norlander had a rough start to the season but was a completely different player the second half of the season.

“She showed up as a freshman, and I didn’t know what to expect,” Fiaschetti said. “She started the season 1-6, and then from there she went 14-2 after that. It was like something clicked. She was a completely different player after that start.”

On the doubles side, Marin Norlander and senior Peja Liles repeated as doubles flights No. 1 champions.

Both three-time state champions, Norlander and Liles cruised through the bracket to earn a state finals matchup with third seed Chelsea. Country Day’s duo would drop the first set, but regrouped and finished the job. Country Day’s three other doubles pairings would all reach the semifinals round.

“All season, they (Norlander and Liles) were the team,” Fiaschetti said. “I knew they’d beat everybody. They were undefeated this year. I was never in a spot where I had to worry about them at all, and that’s always awesome as a coach, to have one spot where you know you’re going to get a win every time and then you can work from there to get enough to win.”

Norlander and Liles are just two of a long list of graduating seniors for the Yellowjackets with Grace Wang (doubles 4), Becca Borgia (doubles 3) and Melanie Bandara (doubles 2) all set to depart.

The singles group will stay fully intact, and Fiaschetti said the team has a strong incoming class of freshmen looking to fill the voids as well.

If history has any sign of repeating itself, Country Day is due to start a state finals streak of its own, since no other team besides Cranbrook and Country Day has been a Division 3 state championship since 2009.

Every streak has to start with one, and Fiaschetti said this will always be a memorable group to him.

“I would say ‘hungry’ was a great word for it, for sure,” Fiaschetti said. “I would also say fearless as well, and I would say senior-led. It was not only our captains; it was, basically, every senior there. They were stepping up and they were invested. A lot of times what happens at the end of the year is the seniors just want to be out of school and they’re already out of it, but that was absolutely the opposite for us.”