State Girls Team Tennis Tournament Preview
THE TOURNAMENT: The 29th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Team Tennis Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-22. The meet takes place at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wis. Action will begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday and will resume Saturday at 9 a.m.
GET TICKETS: The WIAA uses GoFan Ticketing for all digital and cashless tickets. Admission is $9 plus online fees for adults and students. All tickets must be redeemed on a mobile device. To purchase tickets, visit the WIAA website and find the Tickets tab at the top of the homepage or access the Tickets past directly at: https://gofan.co/app/school/WIAAWI?activity=Tennis.
TEAM TOURNAMENT SEEDING: Seeding of the State Girls Team Tournament in both divisions began in 2017. In Division 1, the eight coaches of the qualifying teams vote to seed all eight teams. In Division 2, the four coaches of qualifying teams vote to seed all four teams in the bracket.
THE DIVISION 1 MATCH-UPS:
Division 1 – Quarterfinals (5:30 p.m. Oct. 21)
Match-1: #1 Arrowhead (23-1) vs. #8 Elkhorn (17-5)
Match-2: #4 Cedarburg (16-3) vs. #5 Franklin (21-3)
Match-3: #3 Divine Savior Holy Angels (18-3) vs. #6 Notre Dame (16-2)
Match-4: #2 Middleton (15-1) vs. #7 Hudson (16-5)
Division 1 – Semifinals (9 a.m. Oct. 22)
Match-5: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2
Match-6: Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4
Division 1 – Championship (2 p.m. Oct. 22)
Match-7: Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6
THE DIVISION 2 MATCH-UPS:
Division 2 – Semifinals (9 a.m. Oct. 22)
Match-1: #1 University School (12-4) vs. #4 Edgewood (10-1)
Match-2: #2 Xavier (13-3) vs. #3 Altoona (21-9)
Division 2 – Championship (2 p.m. Oct. 22)
Match-3: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2
BY THE NUMBERS: There were 202 teams sponsoring girls tennis this fall with 133 in Division 1 and 69 in Division 2. The State Tournament field of teams is determined by team points recorded at the subsectional and sectional levels.
LAST YEAR: Top-seeded Neenah won the Division 1 title with a 4-3 win over Divine Savior Holy Angels in the championship match. The Rockets won at the #2 singles flight and swept the doubles matches to post the victory. In Division 2, top-seeded Catholic Memorial rolled to a 6-1 win over Regis in the championship match. The Crusaders notched victories at three of the four singles matches and won all three doubles flights to account for the margin of victory.
THE HISTORY OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Nicolet has won six titles since the advent of the team championship dual format in 1994 and have won a membership-leading 17 titles. Brookfield Central, Homestead and University School of Milwaukee have won nine titles, and Whitefish Bay possesses eight team championships.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Top-seeded Arrowhead returns to the State Team Tournament for the third time overall and for the first time since 2015. The Warhawks’ two previous experiences at State came back-to-back in 2014-15. They captured the championship in 2014. Middleton is the #2 seed. The Cardinals are making their 10th appearance overall and their third in a row. They won the Division 1 championship in 2013 and the alternate season championship in 2020-21, which was played in the spring as an accommodation for the COVID-19 pandemic. Divine Savior Holy Angels, the runner-up the past two seasons and three-of-the-past four seasons, is seeded third in the bracket. The Dashers qualify for the 11th time and for the fourth time in the past five years. They won the title in their first two appearances in 2001 and 2004, and they have finished runner-up four times since that time, in 2012, 2018, 2020 and last season. Fourth-seeded Cedarburg has qualified for the State Team Tournament for the first time. Fifth-seeded Franklin is making its second consecutive tourney appearance after qualifying for the first time last year and advancing to the semifinals. Notre Dame is the #6 seed in the bracket. The Tritons are making their first appearance since 2018 and their 13th overall. The Tritons have won five Division 2 championships. A five-year run of appearances from 2007-11 produced three straight titles from 2008-10. In addition, they made three straight appearances from 2001-2003 that produced championships in 2002 and 2003. The Tritons had runner-up finishes in Division 2 in 2005 and 2011. They are seeking to advance past the quarterfinal round for the first time in three appearances in Division 1. Seventh-seeded Hudson is making its third State appearance overall, which have come in the past three seasons. The Raiders are looking to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time. Elkhorn, the eighth seed, is making its first-ever appearance in the State Team Tournament.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 2 FIELD: Top-seeded University School of Milwaukee seeks its 10th State team championship in its 14th team tournament appearance. The Wildcats return to the tournament field for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2017-18. In addition, they won four straight titles from 2004-07, two straight championships in 2011-12 and another crown in 2014. They have also placed runner-up at State three times–in 2008, 2009 and 2013. Second-seeded Xavier qualifies for the third straight season, which also accounts for the Hawks overall total. They won the championship in their first-ever appearance in 2020 and fell in the semifinals last season. Third-seeded Edgewood is making its third consecutive appearance and its 14th overall. The Crusaders won the Division 2 championship in 2013, 2015 and 2016. They also have four runner-up finishes on their ledger. Those came in 2004, 2010, 2012 and again in 2014. Altoona was issued the fourth seed in the bracket. The Railroaders advance to State for the first time since 2015 when they finished runner-up. It’s their sixth appearance overall.
LAST WEEK: Top-seeded Parker Christensen of Elkhorn earned the Division 1 singles crown with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over seventh-seeded Emily Pan of Muskego in the championship match after placing runner-up a year ago. In Division 1 doubles play, the fourth-seeded tandem of Molly Jex and Lizzie Stuckslager of Divine Savior Holy Angels won the State title, defeating sixth-seeded Zoe Larson and Carly O’Leary of Cedarburg 6-2, 6-0 in the championship final. In Division 2, defending champion Lily Olson of Edgewood successfully defended the singles crown she won last season. As the second seed in the bracket this season, she recorded a 6-2, 6-3 victory over top-seeded Angela Wang of the University School of Milwaukee in the championship match. She also advanced to the title match and placed runner-up in the 2020-21 alternate season playing for Madison Memorial. In Division 2 doubles action, top-seeded Maia Samuelson and Ava Meyer of New Berlin Eisenhower won the Division 2 championship this season with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph over third-seeded Sophia Rondeau and Katie Metcalf of East Troy in the title match.
NEED INFORMATION?: Rosters and records of teams in the State Tournament are available on the restricted media area of the WIAA website at www.wiaawi.org. Tournament Information can Results will be available online on the girls tennis homepage.
STATE MEET APPAREL: WIAA-licensed apparel is available for the State Girls Individual and Team Tennis Tournaments at Nielsen Tennis Stadium during the tournaments.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Girls Tennis Team Tournament on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaatennis. Also like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram at wiaawi.
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