By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The Big Foot-Williams Bay girls tennis team got the tournament run started last week with a fifth-place finish at the RVC Tournament at Whitewater.
Whitewater won the team title with 20 points, followed by East Troy with 12, Jefferson and McFarland with 10, Big Foot with eight and Edgerton with zero.
Coach Chris Chen said he thought his team played well overall at the tournament.
“We were in a deep hole points-wise going in and we fought hard to stay even with the rest of the teams,” he said. “We had some flights where we didn’t pick up any points, which was tough, but winning at No. 1 and No. 4 singles and finishing second at No. 1 doubles really helped us out.”
Leading the Chiefs were a pair of conference titles, as sophomore Meredith Heckert won the crown at No. 1 singles, as did junior Maddie Palmer at No. 4.
Heckert, who last year teamed with the now-graduated Annie McGrail to win the Division 2 state doubles title, defeated Jefferson’s Jazmyne Schulle 6-0, 6-1 and East Troy’s Lora Leach 6-2, 6-1 to finish first.
“Meredith has developed so much in this short season,” Chen said. “She’s become much more patient and honed in on how to play her strengths.
“I thought she played some of her most patient and focused tennis during conference.”
Likewise, Chen said Palmer has adapted well in moving to singles, despite being injured most of the season.
“I was confident Maddie would play well, but taking first speaks volumes about her talent and ability to rebound after missing most of the season,” he said.
Palmer’s title run began with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Whitewater’s Betsy Hixson, followed by an 0-6, 6-3 (10-6) victory over East Troy’s Anna Stephan in the championship matchup.
The Chiefs’ No. 1 doubles team of senior Morgan Grunow and sophomore Izzy Klesmith finished second for Big Foot’s other top effort.
Grunow-Klesmith advanced to the finals with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Jefferson’s Sydney Weise and Emma Waugh, but fell 3-6, 3-6 to the Whitewater duo of Sally Hixson and Alli Sedmak.
Big Foot’s No. 2 doubles team of senior Maureen Hammett and sophomore Samantha Hartwig was fourth, sophomore Sonja Erickson at No. 3 singles was fifth and senior Morgan Stalker at No. 2 singles and the No. 3 team of senior Hunter DeVoy and junior Lexi Zabrouski were sixth.
Big Foot closed its regular season Thursday afternoon with a non-conference dual meet at Edgewood.
The Chiefs travel to East Troy Monday for a Division 2 subsectional, which Chen said the team is “feeling good” heading into.
“I think the girls are playing loose and relaxed and having fun out there,” he said. “It took a little while for some of them to adjust to the speed and flow of the game, but top to bottom, I feel we’re playing some of our best tennis overall.
Heading into the subsectionals, Chen said he’s preached to the girls that staying within themselves and playing with confidence is a key to success.
“They can all play with any of the girls in the state,” he said. “It’s just a matter of truly believing it and having trust in themselves.”
The sectional tournament, with berths at state on the line, is set for Wednesday morning at UW-Whitewater.
