Lady Broncos land just shy of SLC tournament
By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
Needless to say Union Grove freshman tennis player Kayla Mauer is a quick learner.
In just her first month of high school, Mauer has quickly picked up varsity tennis to perfection with consecutive No. 4 singles championships in the Southern Lakes Conference Tournament Sept. 24 and the Racine County Invite Sept. 27.
Mauer’s stellar performances helped the Broncos win the Racine County Invite and finish second at the Lakes tournament.
“Kayla has been playing much better tennis the past two weeks,” Union Grove coach Mike Brannen said. “As a freshman, there is a learning curve along the way and obviously she’s picked up things quickly and handing things better.”
The other Bronco champions at the Racine County Invite included the No.1 doubles team of Allie Miller and Chloe Woods and the No. 2 doubles team of Janelle Shiffler and Courtney Weidenbeck. The three champions helped Union Grove finish with 27 points, four better than second place Burlington.
“Miller and Woods are playing really good doubles tennis right now,” Brannen said. “They are 8-0 and haven’t dropped a single set, and Shiffler and Weidenbeck continue to play very consistent tennis.”
On top of the three championships, Karissa Franceschina and Brittney Wargolet each took second at No. 2 and 3 singles respectively, while Nixie Grajera took fifth at No. 1 singles.
Meanwhile, at No. 3 doubles Kaitlyn Krause and Maddy Hansen finished third.
“Overall it was a great team effort and everybody contributed points, which is what you got to have to win a tournament like this,” Brannen said. “Everyone played really good tennis.”
Girls just miss SLC title
The Racine County Invite championship helped soften the Broncos’ disappointment from finishing second at the Southern Lakes Conference tournament in Burlington.
Although the Broncos had three champions and three third-place finishes, they fell short of their goal of winning the tournament by four points.
Lake Geneva Badger (28) won the tournament championship, sending the Broncos home disappointed.
“We had a chance to come in and win and beat Lake Geneva Badger in two finals, but we just fell a little short,” Brannen said. “It was certainly a great team effort to have three champions and three third-place finishers, but we need a little help from Badger, who just won too many matches.”
The second place team finish wasn’t enough to dampen the efforts of the Bronco champions.
Grajera won the No. 2 singles championship with a brisk 6-3, 6-2 victory over May Jagodzinski of Burlington. Woods, meanwhile, claimed the three singles championship after knocking off Iris Bloede 6-3, 7-6 (7), and Mauer came back from a set down to top Mia Trent, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the No. 4 singles championship.
Miller also had a come-from-behind win in her third place match against Stephanie Dopuch at No. 1 singles.
“It was a memorable day for singles competitors with Grajera and Woods winning,” Brannen said. “And Mauer coming back from losing 1-6 in the first set was a great performance.”
The Broncos also took third place at two and three doubles.
Union Grove’s No. 1 doubles team of Shiffler and Weidenbeck defeated Katie Daujotas and Alyssa Caliva of Burlington, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the third place match.
At No. 2 doubles, Franceschina and Wargolet took out Adriana Castillo and Josie Klein of Burlington 6-3, 6-4 to win the third place match.
“We had a great team effort overall,” Brannen said. “I’m pleased with everyone’s performances. There was great tennis and great matches.”
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