Grove’s Maurer, Krause state bound
By Tim Wester
Correspondent
Union Grove’s Kayla Maurer certainly has doubles play figured out.
Maurer, who was a state qualifier with doubles partner Chloe Woods last year, is making a return trip to the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison with senior Kaitlyn Krause.
“Both of my partners made it easier by both being fun to play with,” said Maurer, also a senior. “They both play differently where Chloe was great with groundstrokes, while Kaitlyn is great at volleying.”
The Broncos No.1 doubles duo thumped Janell Gillmore and Emily Wermeling of Westosha Central 6-0, 7-5 in their first match at the Kenosha Tremper Sectional Wednesday, Oct. 9.
Maurer and Krause eventually finished third overall after losing 6-3, 6-1 to Savannah Kohler and Pyper Scullen of Brookfield East 6-3, 6-1 and then coming back and besting Suzanne Bian and Cindy Liu of New Berlin Eisenhower 6-1, 6-4.
“Beating a good team like Eisenhower was encouraging,” Maurer said. “Knowing that we can stay with them and having that one win before the state tournament was important.”
The confident Maurer and Woods will turn their attention to the state tournament that began yesterday with the Bronco duo battling 11th seeded Jessi Lambo and Kacie O’Hearn from Slinger.
“I’m very excited to get to state.” Krause said. “I was really excited for Chloe and Kayla last year and was able to watch them play at state and now I get a chance to play.”
Krause and Maurer have enjoyed a friendship that goes back to them taking tennis lessons together before high school. Then their freshman season, they got to play a single match together and then were moved to different positions on the team.
“I have been begging (the) coach for years to put us together,” Maurer said. “We were friends and grew up together and wanted to play together, but it never worked out. This year we kept asking and coach finally said okay.”
Union Grove coach Mike Brannen said the decision to pair them together wasn’t difficult.
“Kayla and Kaitlyn are my two best tennis players, so it was an easy choice to put them together this year,” Brannen said. “No secret formula to it.”
The not-so-secret formula paid dividends right away. Krause credits her chemistry with Maurer as a big factory in the team’s 23-6 record.
“We’ve known each other for a long time and have good chemistry,” Krause said. “Having good chemistry and getting along with your teammate is vital to success. I’ve heard of teams from other schools where doubles teams didn’t get along.”
The synergy Maurer and Krause shared helped them finish with a 23-6 record, which included a big win over Lake Geneva Badger.
“Our win against Badger was a big highlight for us,” Krause said. “It showed us that we were capable of beating good teams.”
With synergy, confidence, and success, Maurer and Krause have the potential to win some matches at state.
“They will do fine,” Brannen said. “They can compete with the best of them. They beat New Berlin Eisenhower to finish third. They are a tough team, so they are capable of beating tough teams.”
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