WEST BLOOMFIELD'S HEAVILY JEWISH TENNIS TEAM TOOK A FAST ROUTE
y
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Special to the Jewish News
'TN
6/1
2001
88
ou can call them the
"almost All-Jewish tennis
team."
More significantly, you
can also call West Bloomfield High
School the Oakland Activities
Association (OAA) Division I tennis
champions, as well as a state region-
al runner-up and qualifier for this
weekend's state Division I tourna-
ment.
The Lakers, who have only one
non-Jewish player, weren't expected
to be strong this season. They lost
four key seniors from last year's
squad, including four-year No. 1
singles star Josh Efros, as well as
Coach Joe Brennan.
Replacing Brennan was Greg
Kopec, who coached the Lakers for
18 years before resigning 10 years
ago. Once Kopec got a look at his
2001 team, he became optimistic
about the season.
But his players weren't so sure.
"We lost so many good players from
last year," said senior Mike Muray.
"T thought that we were going to be
a decent team, in the middle of the
road."
Senior Greg Maxon said the play-
ers were "nervous about whether or
not we'd have the depth that we had
last year." But during pre-season
practice, "we realized that there was
a lot of strength."
Through May 18, West
Bloomfield was 9-0-1 in dual meets.
The Lakers won the OAA Division I
dual meet championship with a 6-0-
1 record, then won six of eight
flights to capture the OAA Division
I tournament. The Lakers finished
second to three-time defending state
champion Birmingham Brother Rice
in the state regional tournament.
West Bloomfield, ranked between
eighth and 10th in the state this sea-
son, will compete in the state
Division I final beginning June 1.
Murav had the task of filling
Efros' shoes in the Lakers' No. 1
singles slot. The four-year varsity
performer played No. 1 doubles as a
freshman and No. 3 singles the fol-
lowing year. As a junior he played
both No. 1 and 2, subbing for the
injured Efros at times at No. 1.
"Mike's steady," Kopec said. "He
has very good groundstrokes and he
makes you earn your points against
him. He's not the most powerful
hitter ... there's a lOt of No. l's who
are bigger, and Mike can hang in
with them because he has solid
groundstrokes. He's going to stay
with points, chase balls down and
make you really have to hit a good
winner to beat him."
Supporting Cast
Junior Zach Abramson, in his third
varsity season, plays No. 2 singles.
"He's playing very sound," Kopec
says. “Zach has an overall game.
He's not just a baseline player. He'll
come to the net and put volleys
away."
Junior Brandon Lefkowitz plays
No. 3 singles. The second-year var-
sity performer "is one of those play-
ers who will stay on the court as
long as he has to," Kopec said. "He
doesn't force points. He's willing to
chase balls down. He'll just keep
hitting with you and trying to get
you either to make an error or set
him up for,a winner."
The No. 4 singles player, senior
Chris Bertha, is the only non-Jewish
player on the roster. "We don't real-
ly razz him too much about it,"
Maxon explained, "but he likes to
make fun of himself and act like he's
singled out."
Maxon and Steve Maiseloff, both
seniors, are one of the state's best
doubles teams. The pair was 21-3
through regional play, including the
Lakers' lone victory over Brother
Rice in the regional. West
Bloomfield placed second to the
Warriors at the other six flights.
"We've never played as well as we
played at the regional," said
Maiseloff of the team's 6-0, 6-3 vic-
tory over Rice's Craig Brede and
Raza Zaidi. "We played out of our
minds." "We really wanted it,"
Maxon added.
"In a lot of matches, we kind of
just go out there and just do it to
do it. But this one we felt a chal-
lenge. We really went out there and
we wanted to win."
Maxon played freshman tennis in
Connecticut. After moving to West
Bloomfield, he grabbed a No. 1
doubles spot as a sophomore and
never let go. Maiseloff played No. 4
doubles as a freshman and No. 3 as
a sophomore before joining Maxon
at No. 1 last season.
"We're pretty intimidating,"
Maiseloff said, "pretty consistent.
When we want to win, when we
want to do well, we're going to win.
We're pretty confident about our-
selves. We're not going to worry that
the other guy's going to miss.
"Against Brother Rice, we knew
that we had to win because the