Troy Repeats as D1 Champs as Pioneer Sophomore Grant Miller Takes the No. 1 Singles Crown!

Back-to-back it is for Troy, who defended their Lower Peninsula Division 1 crown Friday at the Midland Tennis Center on the second and final day of the Finals, piling up 29 points to hold off Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (20) and Ann Arbor Pioneer (19). And coach Brian Miska did it with just two seniors and seven new starters on the roster — the kind of reload most programs only dream about. The story of the day up top was Pioneer sophomore Grant Miller, who entered the top seed at 22-1 and finished the job at No. 1 singles, dispatching Salem senior Aarav Shah 6-1, 6-1 in the final after rolling Dheeraj Yelleti 6-1, 6-0 in the semis. A runner-up a year ago as a freshman, Miller avenged the lone loss of his season. Troy's engine was the doubles flights, where they prevailed in three of four — Daruri and Hao at No. 1, Kashyap and Manikandan at No. 2, Shan and Barodka at No. 4. That makes it four top-two finishes in five seasons for us.