Burlington High School, Sports

Leuck, Zeman make it to state

By David Paulsen

Correspondent

All that Olivia Leuck and Ali Zeman had to do was win their first match at the Badger sectional. If they did that, they would be guaranteed a trip to the WIAA State Individual Tennis Championships in Madison.

Leuck and Zeman, the Burlington High School No. 1 doubles team, did just that, but it wasn’t easy. After a tight first set, the pair put away a doubles team of Katie McCarthy and Sarah Johnson from Fort Atkinson, 7-6 (11), 6-2.

“The first set was a bit of nail-biter,” head coach Rose Dolatowski said, noting that the tiebreaker went to 13-11.

After that first set, Leuck and Zeman settled down and played much better in the second set.

With a trip to state guaranteed, Leuck and Zeman next faced Joanie Williams and Andrea Chironis of Lake Geneva Badger, a doubles team they had not played earlier in Southern Lakes Conference action. After dropping the first set 6-1, Leuck and Zeman fought hard before losing the second set 7-5.

“That was a great match,” Dolatowski said. “The second set they played well.”

With the adrenaline gone, Leuck and Zeman fell to Sam Hoyard and Kylie Bliss of Delavan-Darien in their third match, 6-0, 6-4.

Dolatowski noted that every doubles team in the Badger sectional that advanced to state was from the SLC.

“That’s a good thing,” she said.

Two teams from Waterford (at No. 1 and 2 doubles), one from Badger, one from Delavan-Darien, and one from Burlington all made it to state.

At state, Leuck and Zeman, both juniors, will take on Bailey Knight and Alex Johnson of Hudson today at 3:30 p.m.. Leuck and Zeman are 11-12 on the year, while Knight and Johnson are 23-8. Both teams finished fourth in their respective sectionals.

“I’m thinking they (Leuck and Zeman) got a decent draw,” Dolatowski said. “They seem to be peaking at the right time.”

If Leuck and Zeman should win that match, they would play a second-round match against Hannah Dexheimer and Bailey Sagen (31-1) of Oshkosh West, the No. 5 seed in the state. Dexheimer and Sagen have a first-round bye. That match is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 12.

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