Posted: Oct. 11, 2009 |(0) Comments

As defending WIAA state singles champion Aly Coran of Homestead saw it, her ferocious sectional final with Katy Allen of Waukesha South on Oct. 7 was a good way of staying alert.

Because the 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 triumph showed Coran and the Highlanders that nothing is going to be handed to them as they seek state titles both individual and team in nature in the coming two weeks.

"I've actually been in this situation before (in USTA play)," Coran said of her first high school-level three-set match. "I have been in three-setters before, and I knew what I had to do. I needed to step up my game and start hitting it deep."

Coran and the defending state team champion Highlanders went deep themselves, sweeping all seven flights in routing the sectional at Waukesha West.

Meanwhile, Homestead's archrival Nicolet stepped up its game, too, at the Greendale sectional on Oct. 8 and also swept all seven flights en route to a championship.

"Oh man, I never imagined that it would turn out like this," said Knights coach Tim Koppa. "(Whitefish) Bay had beaten us at so many spots earlier this season. … I just never thought we'd go in and not lose a set."

Both Nicolet and Homestead will send many qualifiers to the WIAA State Individual Tournament at Madison's Nielsen Stadium Thursday through Saturday. Coran (32-0) will be the top seed in singles while teammates Brittany Watchmaker and Corey Mattson (21-1) claimed the top spot in doubles.

The Knights are led by third-seeded singles player Jennifer Winston (22-7).

Teams could have showdown

Then the following week, Oct. 23 and 24, the two teams will head back to Nielsen for the state team tournament. They could meet in an Oct. 24 state semifinal dual, but no one is getting ahead of themselves in predicting anything.

"Yes, we're not going past the ball or the point that's directly in front of us," Highlanders coach Jackie Egelhoff said. "If we continue to do that, things should work out for us."

As for Koppa, whose team is making its first state trip since 2000, he's just going to enjoy the ride with his veteran squad.

"Taking away nothing from any of my previous teams, this has literally been one of the most satisfying, enjoyable coaching seasons that I've ever had," he said. "These kids want to win, they work hard and they're fun."

Winning individual sectional titles for the Knights were Winston (22-7), Becca Stern (25-6), Rachelle Brick (25-7) and freshman Emma Wathen (24-7) in singles and the doubles teams of Ariel Winter and Aurora Gundersen (20-10), Erica Lurie and Rebecca Raj (24-6) and Erin Miller and Sari Edelman (26-3).

Setting the tone in first match

Koppa said that Wathen jump-started the team by winning her title in the first final of the day.

Winston won a very tough final match over Bay's Sophie Lillie (19-8) by a 7-6, 6-4 count and Koppa cited Brick for coming back from a mid-match illness to claim her championship.

For Coran and the Highlanders, it was more business as usual, with the exception of Coran's match, they did not drop a set all day, but according to Egelhoff, it was a heck of a first set in that first singles final between Coran and Allen.

"My goodness, Allen came out of there rifling shots like she was Serena Williams," Egelhoff said. "Aly just had to settle down and that was fine."

Others winning titles for the Highlanders were Carly Peck (31-0), Sophia Lococo (29-0) and Megan Geschke (30-0) in singles and the doubles teams of Watchmaker and Mattson, Dani Merar and Kristin Swenson (22-0) and Alison Berman and Christy Kritner (25-1).

Coran, who beat Allen in last year's state singles finals, is ready to enjoy herself, too, though her coach's attitude has clearly rubbed off on her.

"It's always so much fun to go to Madison," she said. "… but all we're thinking about is one point at a time because nothing is guaranteed to us. Nothing is going to be given to us."

Up Next

Homestead and Nicolet advance to team state

WHAT: WIAA State Individual Tournament, Oct. 15-17, Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

TIMETABLE: Thursday, 2 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.

HOMESTEAD QUALIFIERS AND SEEDS: singles - Coran (first), Peck (ninth), and Lococo (12th); doubles - Watchmaker and Mattson (first), Merar and Swenson (fourth) and Kritner and Berman.

NICOLET QUALIFIERS AND SEEDS: singles - Winston (third), Stern (14th) and Brick; doubles - Winter and Gunderson (ninth), Lurie and Raj (13th), and Miller and Edelman.