By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Going into the WIAA State Individual Tennis Championships at Madison last week, the two Waterford High School doubles teams who had qualified knew the competition would be greatly increased.
Alyssa Helwig and Bridget Brockmann, Waterford’s No. 1 doubles team all season, and Emily Roghan and Taylor Webb, who competed at No. 2 doubles in the postseason after playing No. 3 doubles most of the season, were unable to get out of the first round Oct. 11.
“Overall, our girls played great tennis and they never gave up,” head coach Linda Jones said.
Helwig and Brockmann, who went into the tournament 20-5 overall, faced Brookfield Central’s Ali Bublitz and Annie Porritt (25-2). Bublitz and Porritt handed Helwig and Brockmann a 6-4, 6-0 defeat.
“(They) held their own the first set,” Jones said. “Central came on even stronger the second set, and we had way too many errors, which is never a good combination.”
Roghan and Webb (6-1 at No. 2 doubles) faced Jaclyn Swift and Lindsay Holsen (15-7) of Oconomowoc. Swift and Holsen won the match 6-3, 6-0.
“Roghan and Webb found themselves on the defense right from the start,” Jones said. “They changed their strategy by playing back and rushing the net. That worked, and we got three games (in the first set). In the end, Oconomowoc was just too strong for us.”
Jones noted that the experience for the two teams was wonderful. For Helwig and Roghan, it was a great way to end their high school careers.
“Getting to go to the state tournament is huge for Waterford girls tennis,” Jones said. “We are very proud of that accomplishment. At state, there are the best players of the best teams in the state. We knew that getting past the first round would be tough.”
Jones believes the experience will make the girls team stronger next year when she hopes they will return to Madison.
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