By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
For most of the Whitewater High School girls tennis team, the 2016 season already concluded. But, for the Whippets’ top doubles team of Milena Maroske and Whitney Treder, the duo began its most important part of the season on Oct. 14 – the start of the WIAA State Tournament in Madison.
The pair started its postseason action with a three-set match against Kate Seyer and Taylor Johnson from Eau Claire Regis. The match ended up going Maroske and Treder’s way, which led them to the top eight of the tournament.
Following the two and a half hour long match in the first round, the duo got a 30-minute break and then went out to play against No. 3-seeded Catherine Reister and Kate Mrochinski of Catholic Memorial. Whippets head coach Tim Nelson said the girls played well, but that they ran out of gas in the second set, eventually losing, 4-6, 1-6.
With the loss, Whitewater’s duo was then sent to compete in the consolation round the following day, on Oct. 15. Maroske and Treder would face yet another Catholic Memorial team of Kelsey Taugher and Margaret Dietrich.
Against Taugher and Dietrich starting at 8:15 the next morning, Whitewater’s tandem won the first set, 6-2. Then, in the second set, Nelson said the two got complacent and lost 3-6. This led to a third and final set, which Whitewater was ready for.
Maroske and Treder got out to a 5-0 lead before giving up the next four games to Catholic Memorial. Whitewater then closed out the next game and moved onto the next round. With the win, this led Maroske and Treder to compete in the fifth-place match against Kohler’s Jamie Lewis and Evelyn Heun.
“We played probably our best tennis and just steam rolled to a 6-1 first set win,” Nelson said. “Then we got right back into that complacency and Kohler took advantage and won the second set just as easily 6-1. The third set was a little more back and forth, the first five games we just traded and were up 3-2.
“Kohler then won two in a row to take the 4-3 lead. It was at that point that the girls just said enough is enough and really stepped it back up and took the last three games.”
With the win, Whitewater’s Maroske and Treder earned themselves a fifth-place finish at state and earned medals for the Whippets. Nelson said it was a fantastic three days and that he didn’t know if he was going to survive them.
“These were the first Whitewater players to medal at state tennis in over 20 years,” Nelson said. “A great finish to a year where we were trying to replace six varsity players and were expected to be an average, middle of the pack team. We finished the season 17-5, a second-place conference finish, a tie for the conference tournament championship and medalists at state.”
