28 | NOVEMBER 7 • 2019 

T

hirteen isn’
t necessarily an 
unlucky number.
The Frankel Jewish Academy 
boys tennis team qualified for the 
Division 4 state tournament for the 
fourth time in five years this fall and 
finished in a tie for 13th place at Hope 
College’
s Etheridge Tennis Complex in 
Holland.
Eli Grey, who played No. 3 singles for 
the Jaguars, won all three of his matches 
Oct. 18 at the Vande Poel-Heeringa 
Stadium Courts and advanced to the 
flight semifinals Saturday, Oct. 19.
Both flight semifinal matches and the 
championship match were moved to 
the night of Oct. 19 inside the DeWitt 
Tennis Center so Grey could compete 
after Shabbat.
While Grey was facing No. 1 seed 
Cody Richards from Traverse City St. 
Francis in one semifinal match, the 
team state championship was on the line 
on the next court in the other semifinal 
match between players from Ann 

Arbor Gabriel Richard and Kalamazoo 
Hackett.
Richards beat Grey 6-2, 6-0 and went 
on to win the flight championship with 
a 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 3 seed Rafid 
Farjo from Gabriel Richard. 
“I didn’
t play too well in my match 
(against Richards), but it was a great 
experience that night,” Grey said.
It was a great experience because even 
though most of the FJA contingent had 
returned home, a large crowd of players, 
coaches and fans from the other teams 
involved stuck around to watch the 
matches.
Grey was not seeded in his flight.
The senior beat a seeded player and a 
competitor who had defeated a seeded 
player to get to the semifinals.
Grey finished the season with a 14-6 
record, the best of any FJA singles player 
or doubles duo.
A team effort involving FJA Athletic 
Director Rick Dorn, the Michigan High 
School Athletic Association and the 

tournament director at Hope College 
created the accommodations for the 
Saturday night matches.
“I started talking with the MHSAA 
the week of the regionals to see options 
we had if any of our players made it to 
the state semifinals,” Dorn said.
The MHSAA contact was Dan 
Hutcheson, assistant director in charge 
of tennis.
After Grey got to the semifinals, 
“because of travel times, it didn’
t make 
sense to send everyone home and bring 
everyone back to finish the No. 3 singles 
competition,” Dorn said.
So, Dorn said, the decision was made 
to play the flight semifinals at 7:30 p.m. 
Oct. 19, then the championship match.
Grey found out about the plan around 
10 minutes after his third match Oct. 18.
“Coach (Larry) Stark told me we’
re 
going to be staying another night,” Grey 
said.
This was Grey’
s third trip to the state 
tournament. He played No. 3 doubles as 

FJA Boys Tennis 
Team States Its 
Case … Again

Jaguars’
 Eli Grey plays a rare 
Saturday night semifi
 nal match

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

LEFT: Frankel Jewish Academy tennis player Eli Grey gets ready to serve during a match this season. RIGHT: Frankel Jewish Academy boys tennis players and coaches 
watch FJA’
s Rafi Weinstein play in a No. 4 singles match at the Division 4 state tournament. 

HANNAH CHARLIP

Jews in the D

