NORTON SHORES - If momentum meant everything in sports, Reeths-Puffer’s Whitney Dulyea and Emma Fraser would not have won a tennis championship on Wednesday.
The Rockets’ No. 2 doubles team advanced to the title round of the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City Tournament, won the first set by a 6-3 score, and seemed to be in pretty good shape.
Then came the second set, when the R-P duo came a bit unraveled, lost 6-1 and seemed to be in big trouble.
Emma Fraser (left) and Whitney Dulyea show off their championship medals.
But Dulyea and Fraser pulled themselves together for the dramatic tiebreaker, jumped out to a quick lead and posted a 10-7 victory over Mona Shores’ Ella Koch and Isabella Sobczak to claim the match and the No. 2 doubles city championship at Mona Shores High School.
They embraced each other on the court as the crowd cheered on their intense victory.
Fraser and Dulyea went 2-0 on the day, with their first victory coming over Whitehall’s Addy Bernhardt and Alivia DeWildt, 6-2, 6-1.
Fraser returns a shot during the championship match.
“I think it was just really supporting each other,” said Dulyea, when asked how they pulled their game back together for the final set. “It’s just a bond that we have. When we’re right at the edge we just power through.”
“I just wanted to keep fighting,” Fraser added. “I really wanted to win. I thought I was going to have to forfeit a few times. I was freaking out the entire third set. I was near tears every other point. But then I realized we could push though. It was the most exciting match I think I’ve ever played!”
R-P tennis coach Ryan Hankinson said Dulyea, a senior, and Fraser, a junior, have meshed together to form a perfect doubles combination.
Dulyea prepares for a serve.
“Whitney is a dual-enrolled college student and band kid who was never sure year to year if she would be playing,” Hankinson said. “Emma played a year of junior varsity and never thought she could be a varsity player. But they have been phenomenal together playing at that flight. They have a great connection and have grown about as much as two partners can.
“It was a great match. I am really proud of those two girls. They represent everything we want in tennis players at Reeths-Puffer.”
Dulyea and Fraser were the only flight champions for Reeths-Puffer, but the Rockets did very well as a team.
Fraser and Dulyea confer with Coach Ryan Hankinson during a break in the action.
They tied for second place with Whitehall with 14 points, only two behind team champion Mona Shores. North Muskegon was fourth with 13 points, followed by Fruitport (12), Muskegon Catholic (6) and Western Michigan Christian (5).
Reeths-Puffer players were runners-up in three different flights.
Brooke Titus finished second in the prestigious No. 1 singles flight. She posted a 2-1 record on the day, beating Western Michigan Christian’s Sophie Hendrie 6-1, 6-0 and Muskegon Catholic’s Mackenna Pratt 6-2, 6-4 before falling to Fruitport’s Grace Sweet in the finals, 6-0, 6-1.
Other runners-up for the Rockets were Gabrielle Borgeson and Malania Eilers (No. 3 doubles) and Olivia Smith and Hope Latsch (No. 4 doubles).
“I’m so happy, so proud of what this team has achieved,” Hankinson said. “I don’t think we’ve ever finished this high (at the city tournament) or come within just a few points like we did. I am really happy with the commitment our girls have made to be better tennis players and better people.”
