Midland Dow had two flights reach the final match at the Division 1 state final at Midland Tennis Center. Caroline Szabo lost to Bloomfield Hills’ Kerry Hu 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2 singles, and Elaina Parrillo lost to Grosse Pointe South’s Maddie Paolucci 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4 singles .
Grosse Pointe South won its second state title in three years (2012). Dow improved upon last year’s 10th-place finish with a seventh-place finish (13).
Dow coach Garrett Turner was impressed by the efforts of his team during the tournament.
“The future is definitely bright,” Turner said. “In the finals, Caroline ran out of gas, but she has nothing to hang her head about. We had a great tournament, and the kids will learn from this experience heading into next season. We have some young players who haven’t been in the situation before. It’s always a different experience when you are playing under the pressure of a semifinal or final match.”
Grosse Pointe South (28), Clarkston (22), Bloomfield Hills (19), Northville (19), and Port Huron Northern (16) rounded out the top five.
At No. 1 singles, Utica’s Davina Nguyen defeated Clarkston’s Lexi Baylis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Turner said he was happy with Szabo’s and Parrillo’s performances, as Parrillo hadn’t played on the second day of the state final before and Szabo is a freshman.
Szabo won her semifinal match 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 against West Bloomfield’s Melissa Strome.
“[In the championship match], she kind ran out of steam,” Turner said of Szabo. “She wasn’t able to put the shots together that she was used to. The other girl was really good. Caroline had to really take it to her. She just couldn’t quite do enough to take the match.”
At No. 4 singles, Parrillo, a junior, also needed three sets to get into the final, beating West Bloomfield’s Meryl Reams 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Parrillo had one loss going into the final matchup, and it was against Paolucci, who beat her in the championship match.
“She played very well in the final match,” Turner said of Parrillo, “but the other girl was stroking the ball well, and it was tough for her to battle against.”
Dow will lose five seniors to gradation, but Turner is positive about the future.
“We’ve got a lot of really strong, young talent,” he said. “I think it looks positive.”