Sports
Wildcats Tennis Team Wins State Title
USM breaks three-year loss streak at state with a win over Green Bay Notre Dame.
After having lost to Green Bay Notre Dame at the state tournament for the past three years, the girls tennis team finally returned the favor by beating Notre Dame 4-3 to win the WIAA Division 2 State Team Tennis championship in Madison Saturday afternoon.
USM won the first four matches against Notre Dame to clinch the title. First they swept the three doubles matches. In the No. 1 doubles match, USM’s Riley Kelly and Becca Buchanan, who also won the Individual Doubles State Tournament, pulled off a come from behind victory to defeat Margaret Faller and Meghan Linehan, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Nicole Harris and Ellie Wigdale of USM dispatched Catherine Schaupp and Nicole Pott, 6-2, 6-4. In the No. 2 double match and the Wildcats Blake Gillespie and Carly Black beat Anna McKeough and Dana Warpinski, 6-3, 7-5(2).
That left was up to one of the four USM singles players to secure the championship. USM’s No. 3 single player, Emily Chrobak, took care of unfinished business by beating Maddie VandeHouten, 6-0, 6-1.
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Notre Dame won the other three singles matches. In the No. 1 singles contest Ellie Zimmermann beat USM’s Maddy Ecker, 7-5, 6-0. Anne Marie McKenzie of Notre Dame defeated Nicole Flanary, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-0, and Megan Vandenberg beat Haley Gebhardt of USM 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
The Wildcats reached the finals for the sixth year in a row by beating Madison Edgewood 6-1 in Saturday morning’s semi-final match.
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USM won three of the four singles matches. In the No. 1 singles match Ecker beat Sara Murphy, 6-0, 2-6, 6-0. Edgewood’s Courtney Burke defeated Flanary of USM 6-3, 7-5 in the No. 2 singles match. In the No. 3 singles contest Chrobak beat Jessie O'Brien, 7-6(4), 6-2 and Gebhardt beat Marigrace Carney, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 4 singles match.
USM won all of the doubles matches in the semi-final. Kelly and Buchanan beat Rachael Wabers and Lauren Keller, 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 1 double match. In No. 2 doubles play, Harris and Wigdale of USM took care of Morgan Moliter and Marieke VanRybroek, 6-2, 6-2. Gillespie and Black knocked off Edgewood’s Michaela Johnke and Natalie Meicher, 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 3 doubles match.
The win gave Milwaukee’s North Shore the top two girls tennis teams in the state. Homestead beat another North Shore School, Nicolet, 5-2 to win the Division 1 team championship.
Editor's Note: Thomas Geilfuss is the sports information coordinator for USM.
