MADISON − For the second consecutive season, 75% of WIAA State Women’s Tennis the titles were won by the greater Milwaukee area.
The sacred area three state champions Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Arrowhead’s best double Pairing Sarah Neubert and Isabella Heidenberger fended off a fierce comeback from Abby Frasher and Amelia Stuckslager of Divine Savior Holy Angels to win the Division 1 doubles title in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 all-area final.
Whitefish Bay junior Clare Schaefer won her first D1 singles title as the No. 3 seed in her third straight trip to state. Division 2 was highlighted by Brookfield Academy’s Kylie Matz who stormed through the field to win the singles title in dominant fashion as the top seed.
Arrowhead’s Neubert and Heidenberger win Division 1 state doubles title to make program history
The Division 1 All-Area State Doubles final lived up to the hype. The two seeded duos engaged in an epic duel that culminated in a tiebreaker in the third set for first place on the podium.
Arrowhead coach Jack Watermolen is usually one of the coolest customers on the court and even he sweated a little during his duo’s 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 win in years. chandeliers in the finale.
“You want to keep it fun,” Watermolen said of his best duet. “As soon as it stops being fun, they start playing really tight and it gets worse and worse, but you just want to remind them that, ‘Hey, we’re playing in south-central Wisconsin. It’s not the US Open final. Go out and play how you want.
For the first set, it was a solid recipe, especially for a duo that was coming off a tough three-set victory in the semifinals against Ana and Maria Cristescu of De Pere, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-5. Neubert and Heidenberger had an answer to every exchange Frasher and Stuckslager tried to build and launched straight into the second set with a loud cheering section right above them.
Frasher and Stuckslager not only regained the upper hand, but took control of the match, winning the second set 6-3 to force a tiebreak for the title. The two teams traded haymakers until the DSHA pair took a 9-7 lead with a championship point to come. Neubert called the deficit “the scariest thing ever,” but the Warhawks managed to tie the tiebreak at 9-9. Three straight double faults put Arrowhead up 11-10 before Stuckslager’s left 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 about his top pair’s chemistry. “Their style of play really matches each other. (Isabella) is a great ground striker and Sarah is an incredible mover. It works really well when you have someone who has the weapons that (Isabella) has with her ground strokes. Sarah can move around to help clean things up. They gelled so well. They had some big wins early in the season and we held on pretty well from there.
Asked about his top-seeded Warhawks’ chances of making next week’s Division 1 state team tournament, Watermolen put the answer on ice for a week.
“Ask me next weekend,” Watermolen said with a smile.
Brookfield Academy’s Kylie Matz wins D2 state singles crown
Two.
Kylie Matz lost just two matches en route to the Division 2 singles title, Brookfield Academy’s first individual title in program history.
“I’m shocked I won,” Matz said. “I’m just speechless.”
Matz fought her way to the crown in her first state appearance, winning 48 of 50 total matches played, including a 6-1, 6-1 rout in the final against Kate Fortney of Aquinas, who entered the finals at 33-2 on the season.
“Against Kate Fortney, I thought I was going to lose a lot more matches,” Matz said. “She played such a good match against Susanna (Hundt in the semi-final). I just came in wanting to win my semi-final match so I could guarantee at least a third or fourth place.”
Fortney beat Hundt in the semifinals 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the title against Matz, who took care of Lourdes Academy’s Sasha Quelle in quick succession. Some of Matz’s excellent shots even drew confused reactions from Fortney fans 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 of 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 can 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 seed in the D2 bracket with four teams.
“It’ll be fun to be with the team this time,” Matz said. “They’re so much fun to be around and I’m happy they get to play here too. I’m looking forward to it.”
Whitefish Bay’s Clare Schaefer wins illusory D1 singles title
The third time is the charm.
In her third career state tournament, Clare Schaefer’s monumental day almost didn’t happen. When she began warming up before 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 semifinal match, I felt it pop, so I had a medical timeout and they just sealed it off,” Schaefer said. “They told me I could continue playing and have an x-ray after the tournament.”
Despite missing two strong wristers, Schaefer prevailed 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to reach her first state title match in three attempts. She won the first set again with a tough 6-4 win over Verona’s McKenna Thorson, then cruised 6-2 in the second to finally stand on the top step of the podium 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 has won an individual state title.
Saturday wasn’t over for Schaefer. She became a state champion by day and planned to attend prom in the evening. The question wasn’t about her injured wrist, but rather whether the team van could get her home quickly 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 of his journey to the top. “It was great to have fun together every day.”
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Other top finishers in the Milwaukee area
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University School of Milwaukee’s Angela Wang finished fourth in the D1 singles division after two consecutive trips to the D2 state title match in her first two seasons. Her 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 zone pairs out of the six spots on the group podium with them, Jayne/Darr and the two title match pairs of Arrowhead and DSHA.
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The Division 1 singles also featured four zone finishers on the podium with D1 champion Schaefer. Wang finished fourth, Caroline Raster of Brookfield East was fifth and Natalie Stanula of Milwaukee Reagan was sixth.
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The Division 2 singles featured three zone finishers, highlighted by Matz. Susanna Hundt of St. Joan Antida/Chesterton Academy finished on the podium for the second straight season with a third-place finish. Caroline Gerovac of New Berlin West won fifth place.
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The Division 2 doubles featured two pairs of zones on the podium. Ava Miller and Parker Van Dusen of Kenosha St. Joseph finished in fourth place, while the duo of Audrey Quernomoen and Marina Matson of Brookfield Academy finished in fifth place.
This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WIAA State Girls Tennis: Three regional tennis champions crowned
