By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
With the aid of its strong doubles lineup, the Union Grove girls tennis team finished fourth at the Southern Lakes Conference championship at Delavan-Darien High School Thursday, Sept. 21 and Saturday, Sept 23.
The Broncos’ doubles teams finished third, second and fifth respectively to lead the young squad.
Lake Geneva Badger won the championship, while Westosha Central finished second.
As for the Broncos, coach Mike Brannen was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I think it was a strong field,” Brannen said. “Lake Geneva and Westosha Central are very strong and are tough to compete against, and we had to match up against hem in couple positions. But for the most part, we played well at every position.”
The Broncos’ No.2 doubles team of Kaitlin Krause and senior Karissa Franceschina played especially well. The duo took out Lake Geneva Badger in the semifinal before falling short in the final against Westosha Central.
“This is the first year that Karissa and Kaitlin played together, but they haven’t missed a beat,” Brannen said. “We had great win in the semifinal against Badger, which is regularly one of the better teams in the tournament so for them to win in the semifinal was a pretty strong effort.
“Then in the final, give Westosha all the credit, because the girls played well and Westosha was that much better.”
The No. 3 doubles team of Cami Good and Maddie Hansen placed fifth.
“Cami is a freshman and was nervous in the first round, but after the first match she settled down and the team ended up taking fifth. Hats off to Cami for getting past her nerves and playing well.”
The young Broncos’ fourth-place effort overall is a positive sign of growth, according to Brannen.
“Give my team credit because they all competed really well and are all still learning,” Brannen said. “The experience this year will make us a better team next year.”
The Broncos’ learning process continues next week when they participate in a WIAA Division 1 Subsectional.
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