This week marks the beginning of the Individual Girls Tennis State Tournament at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. The Individual Tournament will take place from Thursday October 12th to Saturday October 14th. Immediately following will be the WIAA Team Girls Tennis Tournament beginning on Friday October 20th. Tickets for both can be purchased on GoFan for $9 each.
The Arrowhead Girls Varsity Tennis team is sending six athletes total, including singles and doubles.
Izzy Heidenberger and Emily Muresan will be competing in the singles division. Partners Lily Liu and Sarah Neubert will be competing in the doubles division along with the other partnership, Lily Shultz and Jacquelyn Cox.
Heidenberger says, “To prepare for tournaments I’ve been trying to hydrate and eat right to play the best on the court, also the practices leading up to tournaments I really focused on my opponents weaknesses.”
Muresan will be facing Homestead’s Elsa Heinrich while Heidenberger will be facing Elkhorn Area’s Alexandria Trost, both matches at 10:30 am on Thursday.
Liu and Neubert have a bye on Thursday, so their tournament play will begin Friday when they will face the winner of the Monona Grove and Waunakee match.
Shultz and Cox will face Rice Lake’s Natalie Nolin and Emily Mofle on Thursday, time yet to be determined.
Shultz says, “Jacquelyn and I have been playing together for 2 full seasons, so we play really well together. We have had tough competition, but [we] have learned how to stay focused and have positive mindsets which have lead us to the best outcome.”
Last season, Shultz and Cox helped the Warhawks secure a Division 1 Team title when they won their #3 doubles match.
Cox says, “A lot of doubles teams are very forced which leads to them not being a cohesive team. However, since freshman year, Lily and I clicked. We understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and play off the other’s energy.”
New to the team this year, Heidenberger joins a team of talented athletes as well as some 2022 state winners: Taylor Kehoss, Liu, and Neubert.
Heidenberger says, “the upperclassmen have been great role models and have made this season a very easy adjustment…they’ve been super encouraging and supportive.”
Linda Swenson • Oct 12, 2023 at 10:17 PM
Beautifully written article. Ellie Bognar is clear, concise and easy to read.