WEST SALEM — Senior Emma Kolb came from behind to win a No. 1 singles championship and lead the Onalaska Luther High School girls tennis team to a tournament and season Coulee Conference championship on Tuesday.
The Knights won four flights — three of them singles — on the way to a tournament score of 48 and season total of 68 points.
Kolb (23-4), a senior and the second seed, battled back from a loss in the first set to beat top-seeded senior Kendall Sullivan (23-1) of West Salem 6-7 (6), 6-2, 10-1 in the title match. She was able to avenge a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Sullivan two weeks ago during their conference dual matchup.
The Knights also received bracket victories from sophomore Kate Elliot (15-12) at No. 2 singles and sophomore Ellie Burnet (14-13) at No. 3 singles. Elliot won both of her matches in straight sets and beat West Salem junior Fiona Peus (14-5) 6-1, 6-0 in the finals. Burnet swept her semifinal and championship opponents by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
Luther’s No. 1 doubles team of Kenzie Olson and Keira Paus (21-6) were also victorious and won both of their matches in straight sets. Olson and Paus won their semifinal 6-0, 6-2 before handing West Salem’s Madison Elsen and Elise Schwarz a 6-2, 6-1 defeat in the championship match.
Second-place West Salem had champions at No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles on its way to a team score of 42. The Panthers ad 58 points during the season and also finished second in that race. Senior Madline Schleppenbach (8-1) won the singles title with a 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 victory over Luther’s Hannah Olson, and the senior doubles team of Brisha Briseno and Dillan Riste.
The Panthers emerged victorious in that one by defeating Luther’s Grace Meyer and Shelby Erdmann 4-6, 6-2, 12-10.
