It took all they had, but both Homestead and University School of Milwaukee (USM) posted 4-3 victories to earn WIAA State Team Tennis titles.  Homestead won their fifth State Team Championship after #3 singles player Alex Talyansk defeated KK Doering of DSHA 6-4, 6-0.  It was the final match of the D1 meet and set off a celebration by the Highlanders.

The Division 2 meet also ended 4-3 with USM capturing their sixth State Team Championship.  It wasn't until #1 singles player Maddy Ecker defeated Sara Murphy of Edgewood, 6-1, 6-3, that the title was decided.  It is the Wildcats second State Team Championship in a row. 

     Teams who finished first in one of eight Division 1 and four Division 2 sectionals are competing in the 19th WIAA State Team Tennis Tournament this weekend.  Teams scored points through subsectional and sectional play on October 1, 2, 3 and 4.

      Teams were allowed to enter a total of 10 players at the subsectional level in this year's flighted tournament.  Four flights of singles and three flights of doubles have enabled more athletes to participate in the WIAA tennis tournament program.  Previously, schools were allowed to enter only two singles players and two doubles teams.  The addition of flights has allowed coaches to include their regular season players into the tournament structure.

     Teams will be playing dual meets to determine who will advance to the championship round.  The team scoring the most individual flight wins will advance to the next level of competition.  The three doubles matches will be assigned to a court first.  When a match is completed, the Flight 4 singles match will be assigned, followed by the Flight 3, etc.  The brackets were designed using a predetermined numerical draw.  Teams were not seeded based on their overall dual meet record.  The placement of teams into brackets will vary from year to year as the numerical draw changes from year to year.

     Awards will be presented following the completion of the championship matches on Saturday afternoon.  Medals and trophies will be presented to both teams competing in the championship match, in each division.

    The WIAA Girl's Team Tennis tournament begins on Friday evening, October 19, at 5:30 p.m. with Division 1 quarterfinal matches.  It continues on Saturday morning, October 20, at 9 a.m. with Division 1 and 2 semifinal matches.  The Championships for both Division 1 and 2 begin at 2 p.m.

     Tickets are available at the door for $6.  All of the matches take place at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Four-time defending champion Homestead is making its eighth tournament appearance and its fifth in a row. The Highlanders have also recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2002-03.

Nicolet is making its ninth appearance overall since the dual meet format was established and its third in the last four years. The Knights won six team tournament championships, including three straight on two different occasions, from 1994-96 and from 1998-2008. Including the pre-team tournament era, they have been crowned team champions a membership-leading 17 times.

Green Bay Southwest will be appearing in the tournament for the 18th time, the most of any member school since the dual-match format began. The Fighting Trojans won the Division 1 title in 1997 and finished runner-up in 2010.

Eau Claire Memorial is making its third straight appearance and its 14th overall. The Old Abes have finished runner-up four times (1998, 1999, 2001, 2004).

Neenah is making its 10th overall appearance and its first since 2007. The Rockets best outcome in the State Team Tournament came with a runner-up finish in 2000. They also finished runner-up on two other occasions (1983, 1986) prior to the dual-match format.

Divine Savior Holy Angels is making its fourth consecutive appearance and its sixth overall. The Dashers have won a pair of State titles. The first came in 2001 and then again in 2004. Middleton has qualified for the fifth time and for the third straight season.

Badger qualifies for State for the first time.  Cricket Gelderman (21-2) is their #1 singles player while Joanie Williams and Andrea Chironis (15-2) lead their doubles teams.

The match ups for Friday Evening are as follows:

 Neenah vs. Nicolet

Eau Claire Memorial vs. Divine Savior Holy Angels

Middleton vs. Homestead

Green Bay Southwest vs. Badger

Quarterfinal play begins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, October 19 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the campus of UW-Madison.