Tennis team's season comes to an end

By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

Oct. 6 was a tough day at the office — or in this case, Ripp Park in Waunakee — for the Sauk Prairie girls' tennis team.

Not only did the Eagles manage to win first-round matches in just two of seven flights at the WIAA Division 1 Waunakee Sub-sectional, but the two flights to advance had to face No. 1 seeds in the second round.

Alison Halweg — the No. 5 seed at No. 2 singles — beat Valerie Shen of Madison Memorial, 6-3, 6-3, but lost to top-seeded Samantha Nagin of Madison West, 6-0, 6-0, in her next match to end her season with a 15-3 record.

Nagin, played much of the season at No. 1 singles because an injury sidelined reigning state particapant Rachel Margolies until a little over two weeks ago.

And Eagles' coach Mary Weeks said Nagin's experience in that flight made a difference.

"I think Samantha's confidence and experience playing at that level — having a winning record at that level — was definitely a factor in the outcome of the match," Weeks said in a phone interview after the meet of Nagin's 13-8 record while playing No. 1 singles.

The No. 2 doubles tandem of seniors Abby Kessenich and Janel McCormick won in the first round before losing to the top-seeded team from Middleton, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 — ending their season 9-4.

"Janel and Abby buckled down in the second set and decided to play really smart and get everything back (across the net)," Weeks said, adding that it was that mind-set that forced Middleton to make a number of unforced errors en route to losing the set. "They were steady and ... continued that play until they were up 3-0 in the third set. But then Middleton started to improve their play."

Stephanie Johnson (9-8 final record) lost to top-seeded Margolies, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 1 singles; Nicole Kindschi (l1-6) lost to fourth-seeded Ali Diamond of Middleton, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 singles; and Katie Shelton (8-8) dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Lauren Pedracine of West.

The No. 1 doubles team of Kelsey Ganser and Cori Imobersteg (7-5) lost in the first round to the third-seeded Verona team, 6-1, 6-2, and the No. 3 doubles team of Amy Lang and Lauren Anderson (5-4) lost to the fourth-seeded Verona team, 7-5, 6-2.  

Sauk Prairie 5, Lodi 2

Katie Shelton didn't win her match Sept. 30, but she still impressed her coach.

That's because the sophomore and first-year varsity player nearly knocked off Lodi's Mary Beth Mabis — who is undefeated and won the No. 4 singles championship at the Capitol Conference tournament Sept. 27 — before dropping a match-deciding tie-breaker in a 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(9) loss.

"Katie has really stepped up at the end of the season and shown some improvement," Weeks said in a phone interview Oct. 2, two days after Sauk Prairie beat the Blue Devils 5-2 to finish the regular season with a 7-3 dual-meet record.

"She had a really good match."

Because it wasn't a conference meet, the two teams decided before the meet to play a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a third set. Shelton lost the tiebreaker 11-9.

Weeks was also impressed with senior co-captain Stephanie Johnson, who only lost two games in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jessica Timmons.

"Her groundstrokes were going well (and) even though it was a windy, cool day, she seemed like she was hitting her ball," Weeks said. "She played smart (and) she was just really consistent."

Alison Halweg (No. 2 singles) improved to 14-2 with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Kendall Steinhoff, and Nicole Kindschi (No. 3) lost 6-0, 6-3 to Jesse Pieper as the Eagles went 2-2 in singles play.

All three doubles teams won in convincing fashion, combining to lose just seven games — including a 6-1, 6-0 win by Abby Kessenich and Janel McCormick over Kortney Koch and Haley Hesse at No. 2.

"They just appeared to be dominant," Weeks said of the Eagles' doubles teams. "It's nice to be able to finish a match that way before sub-sectionals."

 
SAUK PRAIRIE 5, LODI 2

SINGLES: No. 1 — Stephanie Johnson, SP, def. Timmons, 6-1, 6-1. No. 2 — Alison Halweg, SP, def. Steinhoff, 6-0, 6-4. No. 3 — Pieper, L, def. Nicole Kindschi, 6-0, 6-3. No. 4 — Mabis, L, def. Katie Shelton, 5-7, 6-2, 11-9.

DOUBLES: No. 1 — Kelsey Ganser-Cori Imobersteg, SP, def. Lemke-Kleinfeldt, 6-2, 6-0. No. 2 — Janel McCormick-Abby Kessenich, SP, def. Koch-Hesse, 6-1, 6-0. No. 3 — Lauren Anderson-Amy Lang, SP, def. Frederick-Wimmer, 6-2, 6-2.

JV: Sauk Prairie 9, Lodi 2.

At: Lodi.