Tennis team brings home conference title
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
It didn’t take long to see where the top girls tennis teams in the Rock Valley Conference resided this fall.
Even though East Troy, Whitewater and Big Foot had separated themselves from the rest of the pack, which team would stand on top of the mountain at the end was far from a certainty.
And right down to the final moments of last week’s RVC Tournament at UW-Whitewater, it still wasn’t clear.
But when the dust had settled, it was East Troy that came home with the big prize, its 11th conference title in school history and its first since 2011.
East Troy and Whitewater tied for the tournament title with 25 points, followed by Big Foot with 19, Jefferson with 18, McFarland with 13 and Edgerton with 12.
Because the Trojans beat the Whippets in the regular season, they finished ahead by two points in the chase for the overall crown.
“It is a very satisfying feeling to (see) these kids work in the winter and summer clinic and have it all come down to one night and win the conference championship,” East Troy coach Dave Lindow said.
“My favorite part of coaching is watching kids achieve this success and seeing the smiles on their faces.”
East Troy picked up one conference title, as the No. 3 doubles team of Kelly Griffa and Allison Slusar defeated Big Foot 6-3, 6-1 in the finals. After a first-round bye, the East Troy duo beat McFarland 6-4, 6-1 to get into the finals.
Griffa-Slusar are 20-3 overall.
“This team has not lost in almost a month,” Lindow said. “If they continue to keep laying the way they have been, they can make a serious run at getting to sectionals this year.”
The Trojans also had two seconds and four thirds to pick up other valuable points.
Advancing to the finals were the No. 1 team of Mackenzie Lindow and Erin Rice and the No. 2 duo of Claudia Pott and Alison Barth.
Lindow-Rice fell 4-6, 6-3, 5-10 to Edgerton, while Pott-Barth lost 6-7 (4), 3-6 to Edgerton.
Both teams had first-round byes. Lindow-Rice beat Jefferson 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals, while Pott-Barth beat McFarland 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 to advance.
Lindow-Rice now are 19-1 overall.
“They have been outstanding this season for us,” Lindow said. “They were a little tentative in the match against Edgerton and let them in the game.
“Edgerton played a great match and hit a ton of good shots. (They) will learn from this as they continue to get better and now make a run at trying to get to the state tournament as sophomores.”
Pott-Barth are 7-2 as a doubles team, with both losses coming to Edgerton.
“They will meet them again at subsectionals in a match to advance to the sectional finals,” Lindow said. “We will see if the third time is a charm.”
Three East Troy singles players finished third, while another was fourth.
Placing third were Lora Leach at No. 1 singles, who beat Big Foot’s Meredith Heckert by injury default; Victoria Pott at No. 2, 6-2, 6-2 over McFarland; and Mikayla Lamping at No. 3, 6-2, 6-1 over Big Foot.
Anna Stephan, at No. 2, fell in her third-place match to Whitewater, 5-7, 5-7, to finish fourth overall.
Next up is the WIAA Division 2 subsectional Monday at East Troy, followed by the sectional Wednesday at UW-Whitewater.
This is when the focus changes, Lindow said.
“We will try to advance as many kids to (the) sectional as possible,” he said. “We will also be looking for some of our kids to try to advance to the state tournament in the sectional final on Wednesday.”
Trojans win two
East Troy sandwiched a pair of nonconference wins around the RVC Meet, including a 7-0 win Monday over Elkhorn. The Trojans closed out the dual schedule at 20-2 overall.
Picking up singles victories were Leach at No. 1, 6-0, 6-2; Stephan at No. 2, 6-0, 6-0; Victoria Pott at No. 3, 6-0, 6-1; and Lamping at No. 4, 6-3, 6-0.
Winning doubles matches were Lindow-Rice at No. 1, 6-1, 6-0; Claudia Pott-Barth at No. 2, 6-2, 6-2; and Slusar-Griffa at No. 3, 6-0, 6-1.
East Troy also swept Greenfield last Tuesday.
Winning in singles were Leach at No. 1, 6-0, 6-0; Stephan at No. 2, 6-1, 6-2; Victoria Pott at No. 3, 6-0, 6-2; and Lamping at No. 4, 6-1, 6-1.
Victorious doubles teams were Lindow-Rice at No. 1, 6-1, 6-0; Claudia Pott-Barth at No. 2, 6-2, 6-1; and Slusar-Griffa at No. 3, 6-2, 6-1.
