Greenhills Girls Tennis Rolls Towards States

The Greenhills varsity girls tennis team legacy of excellence continues to impress. For the first time in program history, the Greenhills girls tennis team swept all the flights in the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) regionals tournament on May 15. The Gryphons competed against six other Division 4 schools in the tournament, which was held at Greenhills, to clinch and defend its title.

“We’re intensely proud of what we’ve accomplished. But more importantly…the team achieved this success through focused effort, skill, and steely nerve, all the while prioritizing kindness and sporting conduct,” shared Head Coach Mark Randolph, who is closing in on his 30th year coaching at Greenhills.

“Our goal as a team is to stand on the shoulders of all the great players who have come through this program,” continued Randolph. “We’re here to be champions and to do it exactly the right way—to promote the game and make it inviting to all kids, including those who have never picked up a racquet.”

The Gryphons’ 16-member roster is exceptionally strong, with talented and skilled players across all flights and classes.

“We’re very fortunate—I can’t say enough great things about what they’ve done and more great things about how they’ve done it,” said Randolph, who works closely on strategy and training with Assistant Coach Leigh Formicola.

Regular season highlighted matchups were against Cranbrook Kingswood, whom the Gryphons beat for the first time in program history; and versus Mercy and Marian, respectively, who both challenged and brought out the best in the Greenhills team. At the Novi Invitational, a Division 1 tournament, the team found a couple extra gears with extraordinary results.

“This great group of athletes deserves to be writing their name in the history books,” said Randolph. “They understand intrinsically that the opponent is also your partner—you need them on the other side of the net to play, and the better they are, the better you are. When tennis aspires to be something more than a zero sum game, it creates community.”

With the team looking to repeat as state champions at the MHSAA tournament finals, which will be held in Ann Arbor on May 31 and June 1, they will continue to focus on outstanding shotmaking, as well as to foster the program’s mission to be genuine ambassadors for the sport.

This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the program’s first state title. As the team honors its past, it always appreciates the number of alums who come out to support and cheer on the current Gryphons. What binds them together are the same shared values nurtured on the courts at 850 Greenhills Drive:

“All joy, no fear, can’t lose.”