What: 32nd annual WIAA girls tennis team state championships.
When: Friday-Saturday, Oct. 24-25.
Where: Nielsen Tennis Stadium, Madison.
Tickets: Tickets are available on the WIAA website through its ticketing partner GoFan ($9 per day for adults and students.).
Results: Go to wiaawi.org.
2024 champions
Division 1: Brookfield East, first overall title.
Division 2: Brookfield Academy, first overall title.
Schedule
Division 1: Quarterfinals — No. 1 Brookfield East (20-2) vs. No. 8 Westosha Central (25-3); No. 4 Eau Claire Memorial (22-3) vs. No. 5 Notre Dame (18-6); No. 3 University School of Milwaukee (16-3) vs. No. 6 Madison West (20-8); No. 2 Neenah (19-2) vs. No. 7 Verona (21-8). Semifinals — Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner; Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner. Championship — Semifinal winners.
Division 2:Semifinals — No. 1 Edgewood (15-2) vs. No. 4 Shorewood (18-7-1); No. 2 St. Mary Catholic (13-5) vs. No. 3 Altoona (18-5). Championship — Semifinal winners.
Area programs chasing titles
No. 1 Brookfield East
The defending state team champions are back in Madison for the second straight postseason and for the 10th time in program history. The Spartans ended Arrowhead’s bid for a three-peat of state team titles with a nailbiting 4-3 victory that was sealed by a victory at No. 1 singles for Caroline Raster, last week’s Division 1 state singles champion. Raster stood atop the podium last weekend with teammate and No. 2 singles star freshman Natalia Martinez, who took fifth place in the individual singles tournament. Coming into postseason play, the Spartans’ singles lineup of Raster, Martinez, Lily Sun and Samantha Behling were a combined 67-1 on the season, while the three doubles pairings were a combined 30-4 on the year. This team has been a well-oiled machine this season with its player depth continuing to reach astronomical numbers under coach Linda Lied. They’ll have to win three matches like everyone else in D1, but this team is the top seed and the prohibitive favorite to go back-to-back for quite a few reasons.
No. 3 University School of Milwaukee
In terms of championship pedigree, it would be tough to find a program with a better resume over the years than USM. The Wildcats have won 11 state titles in 15 appearances, but all of those came in Division 2. After moving up to D1 last season, the Wildcats have grinded their way to state in D1 for the first time. USM coach Matt Flack has a senior-laden singles lineup, led by 2023 D2 state singles champion Angela Wang, who finished fourth for the second straight postseason in last week’s D1 singles tournament. Wynter Maitland has been a strong No. 2 with her previous state experiences, while junior Jocelyn Stratton and senior Anaya Amin round out the singles lineup with a combined 39-13 record prior to last weekend’s individual tournament. The bottom half of the bracket’s championship spot could definitely be up for grabs if a projected Neenah-USM semifinal matchup comes to fruition.
No. 4 Shorewood
For the first time in program history, the Shorewood Greyhounds are one of the final four teams left in Division 2 girls tennis. After starting the regular season 2-7, the Greyhounds have caught fire, winning 16 of their final 17 matches with a perfect 5-0 conference record. No. 1 singles player Misa Herriges was excellent last week in the D2 singles tournament, finishing third after a hard-fought 6-0, 5-7, 10-7 victory over Big Foot’s Annabelle Parker. This team has a nice blend of seniors and youth with three of its four singles players being seniors, including Herriges, while three of the four in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairings are a freshman in Elsa Oldenburg, a sophomore in Alaina Tautges and a junior in Evelyn Schuurman. Sophia Eckman is the lone non-senior in the singles lineup and she’s been a gem for the Greyhounds at 25-5 this season. They’ll have their work cut out for them against top-seeded and three-time state champion Edgewood in the semifinals, but this group has got it going and kept it going all the way to Madison.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WIAA high school girls state team tennis tournament preview
