Posted: June 8, 2010 |(0) Comments

Whitefish Bay boys tennis

Blue Dukes coach Phil Kelbe said that singles player Jack Larsen was the model of decorum during the WIAA state singles championship match between his friends Alex Jesse of Homestead and Damon Niquet of Marquette on Saturday at Nielsen Stadium in Madison.

It was a match he should have been participating in himself, had not a devastating set of cramps forced him to default late in his semifinal with Niquet, with Larsen holding a commanding lead and on match point.

"It happened abruptly, quite suddenly," Kelbe said. "Eventually it got so bad that he couldn't serve very well and then at one point, he just collapsed on the court.

"You're allowed only so much time with the trainer (before defaulting) but it just didn't get any better."

Larsen, who also had to default the third-place match, finished with a 23-5 record, all of the losses were influenced in one or the other by cramps, an issue he and his family have taken great measures to try and contain.

"He decided to stick around the rest of the tourney because he wanted to watch, and he handled himself quite well," Kelbe said. "I can't tell you what he was thinking. He was hydrating, taking salt tablets doing all the right things."

Oddly enough, the cramps did not bother him during Friday's three-match gantlet, that took him from the second round through the quarterfinals. He did not have any problems in terms of competition either, winning all three matches in straight sets.

A call to the Larsen home was not returned before presstime. Jesse wound up beating Niquet in three sets for the state title. Jesse was the top seed going in and Larsen was the second.

"It was all in front of him," said Kelbe. Larsen is a junior.

The Blue Dukes only other entry, the doubles team of Senior Jack Krugler and Patrick Harrington (14-13) lost its first round match to a pair from Sheboygan North.

Nicolet boys tennis

The doubles team of Gard Pecor and Trevor Katzban reached the quarterfinals to highlight the effort of the Knights at the WIAA State Individual Tournament in Madison last weekend.

"They held their seed and will get first-team all-state," said Knights coach Tim Koppa. "That's all right."

Koppa felt it was a very satisfying tournament for all the Nicolet entries.

Pecor and Katzban (19-7) had a first-round bye and then beat duos from Madison Memorial and Oshkosh North before falling to the top seeds from Kenosha Tremper in the quarters. They then lost in the consolation semifinals to the Marquette second team, which eventually finished fifth.

The Knights top singles player, David Yarmulnik (18-12), beat Hudson and Menomonee Falls opponents before falling to eventual runner-up Damon Niquet of Marquette.

"David's a great story, not one of the traditional tennis brats, he was one who came up and improved himself through the recreation program," said Koppa. "He made state three years in a row."

Other entries for the Knights included both of their remaining doubles teams. Richard Kim and Ethan Taxman (20-8) won their opening match, and then took the opening set from the eventual runner-up team from Bay Port before losing.

"I asked them how they managed to do that (take the first set)," said Koppa. "They just said, 'We played really well and then they (the Bay Port team) woke up.' "

The other doubles squad of Quinn Ellsworth and Jacob Levey (24-2) lost their first round match in a super tiebreaker to a pair from Franklin.

Seniors on the team for Nicolet include Yarmulnik, Pecor, Taxman, Levey, Ellsworth and David Gorodetsky.

North Shore girls soccer

Three area teams advanced to WIAA sectional play this week with regional championships on Saturday.

Whitefish Bay, second-seeded in its own sectional, romped, 9-0, over Franklin, while Nicolet, the third-seed in the Bay sectional, overpowered Riverside 8-0. The area rivals will meet in a sectional semifinal at Bay at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The winner of the semifinal will advance to Saturday's 7 p.m. sectional final at Bay for the right to advance to state. Defending state champion DSHA will take on Oak Creek in the other semifinal.

Meanwhile, North Shore champion Homestead needed a Mara Hale goal in the 62nd minute to outlast Wauwatosa East, 4-3, in its regional final Saturday.

The victory advances the Highlanders to a sectional semifinal match-up on their home field at 7 p.m. Thursday against Brookfield Central. Homestead is the second seed in the Brookfield Central sectional.

The other semifinal includes top-ranked in state Brookfield East and Cedarburg.

The sectional final will be at 7 p.m. Saturday back at Central with the state tournament set for June 17-19 at Uihlein Field in Milwaukee.

Homestead softball

The North Shore champions needed to do very little work in advancing to sectional play with a 13-0 five-inning WIAA regional final win over Wauwatosa West on June 3.

The Highlanders sectional semifinal against Brookfield East on Tuesday was postponed by rain and was scheduled to be played Wednesday.

The sectional final will be contested at 7 p.m. Friday at Germantown against the winner of Germantown and Greater Metro Conference champ Brookfield Central. The sectional champion will advance to the WIAA State Tournament in Madison, June 17-19.

Bekah Rennicke threw a one-hitter with five strikeouts and Britt Schlaeger had both a home run and a triple against West.

 

- Steven L. Tietz