MADISON − For the second straight season, 75% of the WIAA state girls tennis titles were won by the greater Milwaukee area.
The area crowned three state champions Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Arrowhead’s top doubles pairing Sarah Neubert and Isabella Heidenberger fended off a ferocious comeback from Divine Savior Holy Angels’ Abby Frasher and Amelia Stuckslager to capture the Division 1 doubles title in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 all-area final.
Whitefish Bay junior Clare Schaefer captured her first D1 singles title as the No. 3 seed in her third straight state trip. Division 2 was highlighted by Brookfield Academy’s Kylie Matz storming through the field to win the singles title in dominating fashion as the top overall seed.
Arrowhead’s Neubert and Heidenberger capture Division 1 state doubles title to make program history
The all-area Division 1 state doubles final lived up to the hype. The two top-seeded pairings were locked in an epic duel that culminated in a third-set tiebreaker for the top spot on the podium.
Arrowhead coach Jack Watermolen is usually one of the coolest customers courtside and even he sweated a bit through his pairing’s 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 victory for the ages in the final.
“You wanna keep it fun,” Watermolen said of his top duo. “The moment it stops being fun, they start playing super tight and it gets worse and worse, but you just wanna remind them that, ‘Hey, we’re playing in south central Wisconsin. It’s not the US Open final. Go out and play the way you want to.’ “
For the first set, that was a solid recipe, especially for a pair coming off a tough three-set win in the semifinals against De Pere’s Ana and Maria Cristescu, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-5. Neubert and Heidenberger had an answer for every rally Frasher and Stuckslager attempted to build and rolled right into the second set with a raucous cheering section just above them.
Frasher and Stuckslager not only rallied but took control of the match, winning the second set 6-3 to force the tiebreak for the title. Both sides traded haymakers until DSHA’s pair captured a 9-7 lead with championship point coming. Neubert called the deficit the “scariest thing ever” but the Warhawks pulled through to level the tiebreak at 9-9. Three straight double faults put Arrowhead up 11-10 before Stuckslager’s lefty shot sailed just wide of the doubles alley to give the Warhawks their first doubles title in program history.
“They get along really well, which really helps,” Watermolen said with a smile on his top pair’s chemistry. “Their style of play matches each other really. (Isabella’s) a big ground stroke hitter and Sarah’s an incredible mover. That works really well when you have somebody that has the weapons that (Isabella) has from her ground strokes. Sarah can move around to help clean things up. They jelled so well. They pulled out some big wins early in the season and we just kinda stuck with it from there.”
When asked about his top-seeded Warhawks’ chances in next week’s Division 1 state team tournament, Watermolen put the response on ice for a week.
“Ask me next weekend,” Watermolen said with a smile.
Brookfield Academy’s Kylie Matz rolls to D2 state singles crown
Two.
Kylie Matz lost just two games on her way to the Division 2 singles title, the first individual title for Brookfield Academy in program history.
“I’m shocked that I won,” Matz said. “I’m just speechless.”
Matz steamrolled her way to the crown in her first state appearance, winning 48 of 50 total games played, including a 6-1, 6-1 rout in the final over Aquinas’ Kate Fortney, who entered the final at 33-2 on the season.
“Against Kate Fortney, I thought I’d lose a lot more games,” Matz said. “She played such a good match against Susanna (Hundt in the semifinals). I just came in wanting to win my semifinal match so I could guarantee at least a third or fourth spot.”
Fortney took down Hundt in the semifinals 6-3, 6-1 to advance for a shot at the title against Matz, who took care of Lourdes Academy’s Sasha Quandt in quick succession. Some of Matz’s excellent shots even drew some befuddled reactions from Fortney’s supporters in the final.
Matz credited a match that went to a third-set tiebreak this season against two-time Division 2 state singles finalist Angela Wang from University School of Milwaukee as a turning point on her path to the state title.
“Once I played that match against her, I said to myself that I think I could go pretty far with this sport,” Matz said with a smile.
Next weekend brings a new challenge for Matz as she and the rest of the Blue Knights program will play for the first state team title in program history as the No. 1 overall seed in the four-team D2 bracket.
“It’ll be fun being with the team this time,” Matz said. “They’re so fun to be around and I’m glad they get to play here, too. I’m looking forward to it.”
Whitefish Bay’s Clare Schaefer captures illusive D1 state singles title
The third time’s the charm.
In her third state tournament of her career, Clare Schaefer’s monumental day almost didn’t happen. When she began to warm up prior to her semifinal victory over West De Pere’s Lexie Hankel in the morning session, her left wrist felt “a little funny,” according to Schaefer.
“During the match in the semis I felt it pop, so I got a medical (timeout) and they just wrapped it,” Schaefer said. “They told me I could keep playing and get an X-ray after the tournament.”
Despite the lack of two strong wrists, Schaefer prevailed 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to reach her first state title match in three attempts. She captured the first set again with a testy 6-4 triumph over Verona’s McKenna Thorson and then cruised 6-2 in the second to finally take the big step onto the top podium step for the first time.
Schaefer also became the sixth Blue Duke to win a state singles title with the victory marking the first time since Lauren Gruber in 2006 that a Whitefish Bay singles player won a state individual title.
Saturday wasn’t over for Schaefer. She became a state champion by day and planned to be a homecoming dance attendee by night. The question wasn’t about her injured wrist, but more about could the team van get her home quick enough to get ready?
“It’s been a lot of work every day with my dad, who’s my coach. He’s made it really fun for me,” Schaefer said on the journey to the top. “It’s been a blast to have fun every day together.”
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Other top finishers from the Milwaukee area
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University School of Milwaukee’s Angela Wang finished fourth in the D1 singles bracket after two straight trips to the D2 state title match in her first two seasons. Teammates Aubrey Jayne and Mia Darr finished on the D1 doubles podium in sixth place.
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Homestead’s Ritu Nair and Melina Fiorentini took fifth place in D1 doubles, making it four area pairings in the six podium slots from the bracket with them, Jayne/Darr and the two title-match pairings from Arrowhead and DSHA.
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Division 1 singles also featured four area finishers on the podium with D1 champion Schaefer. Wang took fourth, Brookfield East’s Caroline Raster finished fifth and Milwaukee Reagan’s Natalie Stanula took sixth.
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Division 2 singles featured three area finishers, highlighted by Matz. St. Joan Antida/Chesterton Academy’s Susanna Hundt finished on the podium for the second straight season with a third-place finish. New Berlin West’s Caroline Gerovac took home fifth place.
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Division 2 doubles featured two area pairings on the podium. Kenosha St. Joseph’s Ava Miller and Parker Van Dusen finished in fourth place, while Brookfield Academy’s duo of Audrey Quernomoen and Marina Matson finished in fifth place.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WIAA state girls tennis: Three area tennis champions crowned
