Onalaska Luther High School senior Emma Kolb, Aquinas senior Tenzin Nelson and West Salem senior Kendall Sullivan earned automatic spots in next week’s WIAA individual state girls tennis tournament with big sectional performances on Wednesday.
Kolb (28-4) won three difficult matches on her way to a No. 1 singles championship in the Division 2 West Salem Sectional to become a three-time state qualifier.
Nelson (28-2) won two of three matches in the No. 1 singles bracket at the Division 1 Sun Prairie West Sectional and placed second to qualify for her second state tournament. Nelson was a Division 2 qualifier as a junior before the Blugolds bumped up to Division 1 this season.
Sullivan (26-2) earned her spot in Division 2 with a third-place finish at No. 1 singles and is a first-time qualifier.
The individual state tournament takes place Oct. 16-18 at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.
The Knights and Blugolds also missed out on the team state tournament with second-place finishes. Luther had 38 points and finished behind Madison Edgewood (45), and Aquinas had 33 points and second to Madison West (38).
The top four finishers in No. 1 singles and doubles brackets and winner of No. 2 singles and doubles brackets earned places in individual state brackets. Other top finishers will be placed as extra qualifiers.
Kolb, who won her first state match as a junior, beat Wayland Academy’s Derya Baytan 7-6, 6-4 in her first match and followed it up with a 0-6, 6-1, 10-8 semifinal win over Watertown Luther Prep’s Alli Olson and talking care of Stevens Point Pacelli’s Morgan Matowitz 7-5, 7-6 for the championship.
Nelson opened with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Madison West’s Kaylee Li and then beat Waunakee’s Taylor Copeland 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals. Sun Prairie West’s Milena Halberg then handed her a 6-1, 6-1 loss in the final.
Both teams had success in other brackets, too.
The Knights received second-place finishes from the No. 1 doubles team of seniors Kenzie Olson and Keira Paus (25-7), the No. 2 doubles team of senior Grace Beyer and junior Shelby Erdmann (22-10) and sophomore Kate Elliot (19-13) at No. 2 singles.
Freshman teammate Hannah Olson (17-16) also placed third at No. 4 singles.
Aquinas senior Kaitlyn McGovern (24-5) was second in her No. 2 singles bracket after beating Waunakee’s Caroline Lee 7-6, 6-3 in the semifinal round before a 6-4, 6-1 loss to Sun Prairie West’s 6-4, 6-1.
The area also received second-place finishes in Division 1 from Aquinas junior Eva Willenbring (25-3) at No. 2 and Aquinas sophomore Alivia Ritter (27-2) at No. 4.
Onalaska had third-place finishes from senior Bella Cromheecke (17-5) at No. 2, sophomore Juliana Dunn (18-3) at No. 3 and the No. 3 doubles team of junior Claire Topolski and sophomore Shashi Getachew.
Central’s No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Ava Rasmussen and Morgan Pacl finished fourth but pushed Topolski and Getachew in a 6-7, 6-2, 10-2 loss in the placement match.
