By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac, Brandywine and Buchanan all shared the Division 4 regional tennis championship last October.
The Chieftains, Lady Bobcats and Lady Bucks expect to be right there in the mix on Thursday as they try to repeat as regional champions.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association state tournament gets under way on Thursday at Leeper Park in South Bend, Ind.
The tournament is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. (Michigan time)
Dowagiac, Buchanan and Brandywine will be joined in the title fight by Edwardsburg, Cassopolis, Paw Paw, Coloma, Constantine, Eau Claire and Lake Michigan Catholic.
The Chieftains, Lady Bucks and Lady Bobcats all qualified for the state tournament, while the Lady Eddies just missed advancing. The top two finishers, plus anyone who scores 18 points or more, moves on to the state finals.
For Dowagiac, it was the school's first regional title and first trip to the state finals.
The Chieftains swept the singles championships a year ago and hold the top seeds in three out of the four singles flights.
Dowagiac's Lisa Rubino is the No. 1 seed and will play either Eau Claire or Buchanan in the second round. Buchanan's No. 1 singles player Nicole Moyer has been nursing an injury and was upset in the Lakeland Conference tournament last Friday.
Also competing at No. 1 singles will be Brandywine's Amy Konopinski, who was the champion of the Lakeland Conference, Edwardsburg's Alexa Smith, who was the runner-up, and Cassopolis' Brittany Polmateer.
Dowagiac's Ann O'Keefe is the No. 1 seed at No. 2 singles. O'Keefe was the regional champion at No. 4 singles a year ago.
She will face either Eau Claire or Cassopolis' Kelli Klimek in the second round after receiving a bye.
Buchanan's Kayla Nelson, Edwardsburg's Alia Zander and Brandywine's Jill Sinkoff will also compete in this flight. Nelson defeated Zander for the Lakeland Conference championship last Friday.
Dowagiac's Taylor Townsend, who played doubles last year for the Chieftains, is the No. 1 seed in the third singles flight.
She will face either Constantine or Lake Michigan Catholic (LMC) in the second round after receiving a bye.
Buchanan's Holly Lucas, the Lakeland Conference champion, Brandywine's Amelia Harrison, Cassopolis' Cally Hass and Edwardsburg's Bethany Marschke will also compete in this flight.
Paw Paw's Michelle Boothby is the No. 1 seed at No. 4 singles.
She will face either Bridgman or Cassopolis' Qatisha Stevenson in the second round. Stevenson reached the finals of the Lakeland Conference tournament last Friday.
Dowagiac's Amelia First is the No. 2 seed and will face either Eau Claire or Coloma in the second round after receiving a bye.
Brandywine's Brittney Patterson, Edwardsburg's Michelle Hentz and Buchanan's Joey Dreitzler will also compete in this flight.
Brandywine's Bethany Daniel and Ashley Valentine are the top seeds at No. 1 doubles.
Buchanan's Megan Vylonis and Robyn Bahr are the second seeds. Both squads received a first round bye. Bahr was the champion at No. 4 doubles last season with former partner Leslie Niemier.
Brandywine will face either Coloma or Paw Paw in the second round, while Buchanan will face either Eau Claire or Constantine.
Dowagiac's Calie Daniels and Lindsay Tyler, Edwardsburg's Kate Gregory and Stacey Miller and Cassopolis' Symone Pompey and Samantha Vlasicak are also competing in this flight.
The Lady Bucks and Lady Bobcats flip-flop seeds at No. 2 doubles with Buchanan's Katrina Weldy and Courtney Miller grabbing the top spot. Brandywine's Erin Sinkoff and Jamie Bartuska are the No. 2 seeds.
Weldy and Miller defeated Erin Sinkoff and Bartuska for the league championship on Friday.
Buchanan will face either Coloma or Paw Paw in the second round, while Brandywine will face either LMC or Bridgman.
Dowagiac's Ashley Smith and Kim Rutkowski, Edwardsburg's Chelsie Baucus and Lindsey Mette and Cassopolis' Krista Jessup and Carmalita Peak will also compete.
Buchanan and Edwardsburg received the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds at No. 3 doubles.
The Lady Bucks' Brianne Weldy and Mary Martin, Lakeland Conference champions, will face either Constantine or Cassopolis' Nicole Green and Candace Smith in the second round.
Edwardsburg's C.C. Roberts and Amanda Woodill will face either Eau Claire or LMC in the second round.
Dowagiac's Tonya Scherer and Shelly Urbanski, as well as, Brandywine's Erin Fusan and Samantha Quartuccio will compete in this flight.
Brandywine's Morgan Bailey and Jordan Ferenczi are the top seeds at No. 4 doubles. Edwardsburg's Lindsey Swann and Saumbera Wiedenmanott are the No. 2 seeds.
Bailey and Ferenczi defeated Swann and Wiedenmanott for the conference championship on Friday.
Brandywine will face either LMC or Cassopolis' Amy Bloss and Tiffany Westphal in the second round. Edwardsburg will face either Bridgman or Coloma in the second round.
Dowagiac's Kate Duszynski and Kayleigh Sundman and Buchanan's Jessica Welsh and Sam Haner will also compete in this flight.