Negaunee, Escanaba Share U.P. Division 1 Girls Tennis Crown

Marquette, MI- The 2023 MHSAA U.P. Division 1 Girls Tennis Finals were held in Marquette, Wednesday. With Escanaba and Negaunee sharing the championship with 16 points each. The two teams dominated the singles and doubles brackets, having 6 winners combined in the 8 competitions.

Escanaba was led by #1 singles champion, Sophia Derkos, who won all three of her matches as well as all six sets. The Eskymos also were victorious in the #1 doubles and #4 doubles bracket. As top seeds Natalie Williams/Sam Manninen and Danni Hughes/Carly Bowden went unbeaten to collect 3 points each.

For the other co-champion, Negaunee, Rheana Nelson won the #3 singles in upset fashion. Nelson upset #1 seed Escanaba’s Sam Korpi in straight sets in the finals. Top seed Madalynn Peters took home the number 4 singles crown. In addition, the Miners won the #3 doubles courtesy of Autumn Ring & Alyssa Borlace.

Westwood finished in third place only two points behind the co-champions. The Patriots won both the #2 singles and #2 doubles, courtesy of Samantha Ruby and Nolia Dawson/Kaylin Doney respectively.