THE TOURNAMENT:  The 25th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Team Tennis Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19-20. The meet takes place at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wis. Action will begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday and will resume Saturday at 9 a.m. Admission is $6 for adults and students.

TEAM TOURNAMENT SEEDING: Seeding of the  State Girls Team Tournament in both divisions began last year. In Division 1, the eight coaches of the qualifying teams voted to seed the top four teams with the remaining four teams to be randomly placed in the tournament bracket. In Division 2, the four coaches of qualifying teams voted for the top two teams with the remaining two teams randomly placed in the bracket.

THE DIVISION 1 MATCH-UPS:

Division 1 - Quarterfinals (5:30 p.m. Oct. 19)
Match-1:  #1 Homestead (22-0) vs. Neenah (14-4)
Match-2:  #4 Whitefish Bay (16-6) vs. Notre Dame (11-12)
Match-3:  #3 Eau Claire Memorial (27-2) vs. Madison Memorial (18-2)
Match-4:  #2 Divine Savior Holy Angels (18-4) vs. Badger  (15-2) 

Division 1 - Semifinals (9 a.m. Oct. 20)
Match-5:  Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2
Match-6:  Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4

Division 1 - Championship (2 p.m. Oct. 20)
Match-7:  Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6

THE DIVISION 2 MATCH-UPS:

Division 2 - Semifinals (9 a.m. Oct. 20)
Match-1:  #1 University School (14-3) vs. Edgewood (10-3)
Match-2:  #2 Catholic Memorial (13-1) vs. Amery (10-2) 

Division 2 - Championship (2 p.m. Oct. 20)
Match-3:  Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2

BY THE NUMBERS:  There were 200 teams sponsoring girls tennis this fall with 129 in Division 1 and 71 in Division 2. The State tournament field of teams is determined by team points recorded at the subsectional and sectional levels.

LAST YEAR:  Homestead won the Division 1 title for the second straight season with a 5-2 victory over Neenah in the championship match. The Highlanders won two of the four singles matches and added victories in the three doubles matches to secure the victory. University School won the Division 2 team title by defeating Kenosha St. Joseph 6-1 in the championship match. The Wildcats swept the four singles matches and won at the #2 and #3 doubles flights to account for the margin of victory.

THE HISTORY OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS:  In Division 1, Nicolet has won six titles since the advent of the team championship dual format in 1994 and have won a membership-leading 17 titles. Brookfield Central has won nine team championships and three since the beginning of the dual format. Whitefish Bay and University School possess eight titles apiece.

ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Two-time defending champion and top seed Homestead is making its third straight State appearance and its 12th overall. The Highlanders have now won seven team championships with five of them coming consecutively from 2008-12. They also recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2002-03. Second-seeded Divine Savior Holy Angels is making its eighth appearance overall and its first since 2013. The Dashers have won a pair of State titles. The first came in 2001 and the other came in 2004. They also advanced to the championship match in 2012 and placed runner-up. Third-seeded Eau Claire Memorial is making its ninth straight appearance in the State team tournament and its 20th overall, which leads all schools in appearances. In addition to a runner-up finish in 2013, the Old Abes have placed second four other times (1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004). Whitefish Bay, the fourth seed, is making its 11th State appearance and the first since 2010. The Blue Dukes have won five State  championships, including Division 1 titles in 2005 and 2007 and Division 2 championships in 1995, 1996 and 1998. They have also finished runner-up nine times. Neenah, the runner-up to Homestead the past two years, is making its 16th overall appearance at State and its seventh in a row. The Rockets won the title in 2015. Prior to that, they compiled four runner-up finishes, including two before the start of the team tournament in 1983 and 1986, and in the team tournament in 2000 and 2014. Third-seeded Notre Dame is making its second straight State appearance and its 12th overall. The Tritons have won five Division 2 championships. A five-year run of appearances from 2007-11 produced three straight titles from 2008-10. In addition, they made three straight appearances from 2001-2003 that produced championships in 2002 and 2003. The Tritons also had a runner-up finish in Division 2 in 2005 and 2011. Badger is making its third appearance and its first since 2014. The Badgers are attempting to advance out of the quarterfinal round for the first time. Madison Memorial is making its second State team tournament appearance with the first coming in 2005 when the Spartans fell in the semifinals.

ABOUT THE DIVISION 2 FIELD:  Defending champion and top-seeded University School seeks its ninth State team championship in its 13th tournament appearance. The Wildcats won four straight titles from 2004-07, back-to-back championships in 2011-12 and another crown in 2014. They have also placed runner-up  three times­–in 2008, 2009 and 2013. Second-seeded Catholic Memorial will make its first-ever appearance in the State team tournament. Edgewood is making its 11th appearance in the State team tournament and its ninth in the past 10 seasons. The Crusaders won the Division 2 championship in their most recent appearance in 2016, and they also won the championship in 2013 and 2015. They also have four runner-up finishes on their ledger. Those coming in 2004, 2010, 2012 and again in 2014. Amery makes its second consecutive appearance in the team tournament after celebrating its first-ever appearance in the tourney last season, which resulted in a loss in the semifinals. 

LAST WEEK:  At the State Girls Individual Tennis Tournament last week, Top-seeded Bojana Pozder of Racine Case, won the Division 1 singles championship with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over second-seeded Logan White of Divine Savior Holy Angels in the championship match. In Division 1 doubles play, second-seeded Annabelle Crowley and Emma Koppa of Nicolet won the title by defeating top-seeded Karsen Dettman and Maddie Clark of Middleton 6-3, 6-2. Second-seeded Mia Larrain of Newman Catholic won the Division 2 singles title with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over top-seeded Olivia Czerwonka of Kenosha St. Joseph. It’s the second straight season Czerwonka has finished runner-up. In Division 2 doubles play, top-seeded Giana Apostoli and Megan Setter of Kenosha St. Joseph won the title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over third-seeded Sarah Gesner and Hailey Stoltenberg of The Prairie School. It’s the second straight doubles title for Setter, who won the title last season with a different partner after placing runner-up in 2016.

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