Strong Team Culture, Work Ethic Guide ELHS Girls Tennis Team to State Tournament
The East Lansing High School girls tennis team has had a successful season, winning its regional tournament and earning academic all-state honors. The team will now look to add even more accolades at the state tournament, which kicks off today.
On the Wednesday (May 29) afternoon before the state tournament, the team gathered for one of its last practices of the season.
17 girls met at the courts in front of the high school. Music played loudly and the team was upbeat, laughing and talking throughout the session. Near the end of the practice, the team broke open a piñata with fast-flying serves.

“Our theme has always been ‘Live the match,’” Head Coach Cosette Buckberry said. “Which means just going out and being completely present and engaged in their matches while also enjoying the opportunity to compete. I think that everyone just wants everyone to be successful on the team, and it really shows both when they’re on the court competing but also when they’re off the court cheering each other on. It’s just a really fun group overall.”
Senior captains EmmaMae Baker, Elena Cull and Erika Stokstad came straight to tennis practice following the ELHS graduation practice.
In previous years, the MHSAA girls tennis tournament has been held the same day as ELHS graduation, forcing student athletes to choose between playing in the state tournament or attending their graduation.
Baker, Cull, Stokstad and the other seniors are happy that this is no longer the case.
“I think it’s been great to get more recognition this year,” said Stokstad, who plays doubles and has been on the varsity team for four years.
Seniors on the team have experienced their share of challenges. Between conflicts with graduation and the state tournaments, a global pandemic, and at times feeling overlooked, the ELHS girls tennis team is taking these challenges and turning them into opportunities to improve the team culture and dynamic.
“As seniors, I feel like we’ve seen how far the team has come,” Stokstad said. “A couple of years ago, when the team was starting out, it was absolutely nothing. Coming off Covid, nobody talked to each other, nobody knew each other.”
Now, the team is closer than ever, both on and off the court.
“We do a lot of team bonding on the court but off the court, they do their own team bonding,” Buckberry said. “This group specifically, we’ve had quite a few girls who have been playing together for three or four years, so there’s not only great leadership but there’s also players with great experience.”
The team works hard and even stays after practice to help each other work on their skills. They also find time to have some fun. The athletes have team dinners, pool parties, go to see movies together and have theme days during practice.

Tennis has come to feel like home for many of these athletes, as players spoke about the strong team culture.
Cull, along with other team captains, have prioritized creating a close and comforting environment for the whole team. Cull hopes the impact is lasting.
“I feel like it’s our job to set the tone for the next year,” she said. “Showing the younger girls how close we are, these are all the things we do together, and this is how we treat each other. And then, just like the captains before us and the seniors before us, it kind of gets passed down.”
Baker, who has been playing varsity doubles since her freshman year, serves as a mentor to her doubles partner, freshman Evie Laxton.
“Just seeing her [Laxton] grow over the years, I played with her when I was younger, but just seeing her progress motivates me,” Baker said.
Buckberry has seen plenty of Trojan tennis players over the years. She played tennis for ELHS, coached junior varsity tennis right out of high school for four years and has now coached the varsity team for 11 years. Through these experiences, she has seen the program change and evolve.
“This year, we specifically talked about the importance of playing for former players, for current players, themselves, and for future players,” Buckberry said. “There are many players who have come before them who have helped build a successful program for East Lansing and obviously we want future players to be excited to play for East Lansing. Keeping this in mind, this team always comes ready to play. They come ready to give their best effort every match and really just represent East Lansing tennis with class when they step on the court.”

The team hosted and won its regional championship on May 17.
There was some anxiety on the courts heading into regionals, as the team looked to repeat last year’s regional title winning performance. Additionally, there was some new competition in East Lansing’s region.
“I feel like a lot of people had a lot of motivation to win,” Baker said. “There were new teams added to our region, so we didn’t know what we were getting into. But we kept confidence and stayed humble and focused and met our goals.”
The Trojans emerged victorious in regionals, with each athlete winning at least one match.
“Looking at the seeds, we had a lot of the better, or higher, seeds going into the tournament, so we knew we had an opportunity to go out and win it this year and it was really just a matter of a full team effort,” Buckberry said. “It turned out that everyone won at least one match at the regional tournament, which allowed us to not only qualify for the state tournament but also achieve our goals of winning regionals again. It was just a really good day of tennis all around for us.”
12 of the 17 athletes on the team are headed to compete in the state competition today (May 31) and tomorrow (June 1) in Grand Rapids. Brackets for the tournament can be viewed here.
“We have created a goal to try and finish top 10 this year,” Buckberry said. “It’s always a goal to try and get flights to advance into the second day, so to try and qualify into the semifinals.”
All three senior captains attended states last year, along with about three-quarters of the team. Buckberry hopes these veteran players will help lead the team to success.
“One thing I always like to do is have players who have already played at states talk to the team about the experiences and what it’s all about,” Buckberry said. “So we’ve been having that discussion.”
The older, more experienced players are now focused on getting themselves and their teammates mentally and physically prepared to perform at the state tournament.
“I felt like, last year at states, me and my partner, we performed really well and we really pushed through,” Cull said. “But I just think we sometimes get in a hole mentally, so my goal is to really just stay out of that hole the whole time.”