WIAA DIV. 1 GIRLS TENNIS - Ruesch defeated in sectional quarterfinal; doubles team places 4th

WIAA DIV. 1 GIRLS TENNIS

The girls tennis season ended for the Medford Raiders on Wednesday, Oct. 9 against, as expected, some tough competition at the WIAA Division 1 Eau Claire Memorial sectional held at the Menard Tennis Center.

The Raiders had two entries in the meet, Audrey Ruesch at number-one singles and Rachel Daniels and Hannah Dahl at number-three doubles.

Ruesch would have advanced to the state tournament with a win in her flightone quarterfinal. It was not going to be easy against the top seed from the other side of the sectional, junior Katelyn Anderson of Eau Claire Memorial.

Ruesch got a few games but Anderson (20-14) took care of her business, beating Ruesch 6-1, 6-2 and ending the Medford senior’s year at 12-9. Anderson won her semifinal match with Hayley Jensen of Wisconsin Rapids, outlasting Jensen (169) in one of the longest set tiebreakers you’ll ever see, 16-14, and winning 7-6, 63. But Wausau West’s Mia Bailey (28-1) beat Anderson in the championship match 6-0, 6-1.

Menomonie’s Amy Liu (25-7) also advanced to state in flight one with a 6-0, 6-3 quarterfinal win over Marshfield’s Lillian Griesbach. Liu beat Jensen in the third-place match 6-0, 6-2.

Daniels and Dahl, also seniors, were not eligible for state advancement at flight-three and their quest for a sectional flight championship ended in their semifinal match with Hudson youngsters Sophia Yacoub, a sophomore, and Molly McConnell, a freshman. Hudson’s team (24-6) earned a straight-set 6-1, 6-2 win over Medford to advance to the flight final where it lost 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Eau Claire Memorial’s Sophie McBride and Kate Berg (21-4).

Dahl and Daniels got off to a great start in the third-place match, shutting out sophomore Lilly Harger and freshman Elaine Titus of Stevens Point 6-0 in the first set. But, the Panthers (5-2) settled in and took the momentum in the second set, winning 6-2 to force a 10-point match tiebreaker.

That went backand-forth and to an extra point where Point’s team won 11 9. Dahl and Daniels finished 10-3 together. Eau Claire Memorial ran away with the sectional team championship, scoring 48 points in the subsectional and sectional rounds. The Old Abes will play in the WIAA Div. 1 team state tournament in Madison Oct. 25-26. Eau Claire North was second with 26 points. Medford tied Superior for ninth place with eight points. They finished ahead of Rhinelander and D.C. Everest (six points each) and New Richmond (4). Merrill, River Falls and Wausau East did not score in their subsectionals or qualify anyone for the sectional. Wausau West was third with 23 points, followed by Hudson (18), Wisconsin Rapids (18), Marshfield (17), Menomonie (14) and Stevens Point (13).

The WIAA individual state tournament starts today, Thursday, in Madison. The Great Northern Conference will be represented by several players in the Division 2 tournament.

Qualifying out of the Lakeland sectional last Wednesday were Sarah Barton of Lakeland (23-1), Reagan Herdrich of Newman Catholic (16-9) and Morgan Matowitz of Stevens Point Pacelli (22-7) from flight-one singles, Maria Elizabeth Garcia/Akosua Yeboah of Columbus Catholic (17-2), Natalie Cooper/Lauren Loesl of Pacelli (10-1) and Molly Merrill/Evelyn Herdrich of Newman (15-6) from flight-one doubles and Alyssa Erickson/Lila Biller of Lakeland (20-4) from flight-two doubles.

Newman Catholic won the sectional title 40-38 over Lakeland and will play in the Division 2 team state tournament Oct. 26.