Birmingham Groves won its first Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 Boys Tennis Championship on Saturday, Oct. 16, at Hope College in Holland.

   The Falcons had been state runner-up five times in their history, most recently in 2018.

   Groves scored 27 points to edge two-time defending champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (26) for the title. Midland Dow and Okemos tied for third with 20 points each. University of Detroit Jesuit was fifth with 19 points.

   “I’ve been coaching here since 2010 and we’ve had several second and third-place finishes,” Groves head coach Dave Farmer told reporters. “This one is very special because it’s the first high school title I’ve ever won. I won three titles at Eastern Michigan University, but this is my first in 12 years of coaching high school tennis.

   Groves features nine seniors with seven in the starting lineup.

   “We have a veteran team this year, and that is a big reason why we won it. We had great senior leadership and a lot of good juniors as well,” Farmer said

   The Falcons were paced by their singles players but strong doubles play was essential to the championship.

   Groves freshman Michael Liss won the No. 3 singles title as he defeated Will Seymour of University of Detroit Jesuit, 6-4, 6-3.

   Junior Nolen Kovan reached the final in No. 1 singles. The doubles teams of junior Dylan Wolf and senior Alexandras Abarius (No. 2) and junior Andrew Weitzman and senior Gabe Klein (No. 4) also reached the finals in their flights.

   Senior R.J. Carrell reached the semifinals in No. 2 singles as did the Falcons’ No. 3 doubles team of senior Logan Edelheit and senior Marc Canellas.

   No. 4 singles player sophomore Jake Rosenwasser and the No. 1 doubles team of senior Dylan Brown and senior Mitchell Greenberger advanced to the quarterfinals.