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30 | DECEMBER 23 • 2021

I

t takes a team effort to win
a high school team state
championship in tennis.
The Birmingham Groves
boys tennis team lived up to
that statement at the Division
2 state tournament this fall at
Hope College.
“We had awesome balance.
Quality singles and doubles
players. Normally a team
is weighted one way or the
other,” said Groves coach
Dave Farmer.
Groves singles players
scored 14 points at the state
tournament. Groves doubles

players scored 13 points.
Those 27 points were just
enough for the Falcons to
edge out runner-up Grand
Rapids Forest Hills Northern,
the two-time defending state
champion, which had 26
points, and give Groves its
first team state championship.
Groves came close to
winning a team state
championship in 2017 and
2018, finishing second both
years.
Nine of the 12 players who
filled out Groves’ lineup in
this year’s state tournament

are Jewish, including all four
singles players.
Freshman Michael Liss won
a state championship at No. 3
singles and later was named
All-State by the Michigan
High School Tennis Coaches
Association.
Junior Nolen Kovan (No. 1
singles) and senior RJ Carrel
(No. 2 singles) also were
named All-State. They were
two of Groves’ three team
captains.
Kovan was a state finalist
and Carrel was a state
semifinalist.
Sophomore Jake
Rosenwasser (No. 4 singles)
was a state quarterfinalist.
Senior Gabe Klein and
junior Drew Weitzman
were state finalists at No. 4
doubles.
The other three Jewish
players in Groves’ state
tournament lineup each made

up one-half of a doubles
team.
Senior Mitchell
Greenberger teamed with
senior Dylan Brown at No.
1 doubles. They were state
quarterfinalists and All-State
selections.
Junior Dylan Wolf teamed
with senior Alexandras
Abarius at No. 2 doubles.
They were state finalists even
though they weren’t seeded in
the tournament.
Senior Logan Edelheit
teamed with senior Marc
Canellas at No. 3 doubles.
They were state semifinalists.
This was a battle-tested
Groves team that went to the
state tournament.
“We were fortunate to
have a lot of juniors and
seniors who already had state
tournament experience,”
Farmer said. “It was a good
group of guys. Good tennis

Time for a
Tennis Title
for Groves

Nine Jewish players help Falcons soar
to first team state championship.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ABOVE LEFT: Drew Weitzman (left) and Gabe Klein played No.
4 doubles for the Birmingham Groves boys tennis team. Klein is
holding the team’s state championship trophy. ABOVE RIGHT: The
Birmingham Groves boys tennis team’s singles lineup included (from
left) Nolen Kovan, Michael Liss, RJ Carrel and Jake Rosenwasser.
Liss is holding the team’s regional championship trophy.

PHOTOS BY JENNIFER LISS