Sports Wrapups: Oct. 4

Shorewood girls tennis

Victoria Nelsen at second singles and the third doubles team of Ellen Gough and Ari Schwartz won individual titles to lead the Greyhounds to a third-place finish in the rain-delayed Woodland Conference Tournament last week.

The Greyhounds, Woodland dual meet champions, took part in WIAA Division 2 sectional play this week. The top four finishers in flight one of singles and doubles and the winners of flight two in singles and doubles automatically qualify for the WIAA State Tournament to be held at Nielsen Stadium in Madison, Oct. 13-15.

Shorewood scored 39 points as New Berlin Eisenhower won the Woodland tournament title with 44 points and Wauwatosa West was second with 40.

Nelsen (19-5 overall) defeated South Milwaukee (6-0, 6-0); Eisenhower (6-3, 6-0) and Greendale (6-1, 6-0) opponents for her title, while Gough and Schwartz (16-3) downed Whitnall (6-2, 6-0); Greendale (default) and Tosa West (6-4, 7-6) duos for their crown.

Earning seconds for Shorewood were Saabirah Abdullah (13-7), who beat Greenfield and Greendale opponents before falling to the second seed from Eisenhower (6-2, 6-3) in the final; and the second doubles team of Kirstin Repins and Grace Hayes (15-6) who downed Brown Deer and Tosa West opponents before falling to an Eisenhower pair (6-4, 6-2) in the final.

Homestead girls golf

The Highlanders took the first major step toward a possible WIAA state title when they won the regional meet at Hartford Golf Course on Sept. 28.

With the victory, Homestead advanced to the sectional tournament at Lakeshore Municipal Golf Course on Tuesday (see MequonNOW.com for details). The top two teams and first three individuals not on those teams advanced to the WIAA State Meet at University Ridge, Oct. 10 and 11.

Homestead was 10th at state last season.

The Highlanders turned in an 18-hole score of 342 at the regional to edge area rival Arrowhead (346). Other team sectional qualifiers included Cedarburg and Sussex Hamilton (both 403).

All five Highlanders were in the top 10 individually at the regional, including Anika Hitt with an 81 (second), Emily Sweet with an 85 (third), Lauren Smith and Lauren Olson 88 apiece (tied for fifth) and Rachel Morris 10th (91).

Arrowhead's Laura Reeg was the individual medalist with an 80.

Whitefish Bay and Homestead soccer

The Blue Dukes scored four first half goals and then coasted home to beat the Highlanders, 5-2, in a North Shore Conference tilt that put Bay in position to clinch the league title.

They took on Nicolet (3-3, 6-9-2) on Tuesday. If Bay (5-1 in league and 12-5-0 overall) won, they would clinch the outright title. If it lost, there could be multiple teams tying for the title.

Bay, which dropped a tough 1-0 overtime decision to state power Brookfield East on Saturday, found out its WIAA sectional seed this week. State tournament play begins Oct. 11.

In the win over Homestead (4-2, 6-8-0), the Blue Dukes got first half scores from Jack Comisky, Sam Bischman, Jake Taylor and Joe Harris to go up 4-0.

The Highlanders fought back with goals with two goals from Sean Reynolds early in the second half, but then Comisky helped Bay breathe a little easier with a goal in the 64th minute.

Anders Bjella had four saves for Bay while Jesse Nye had seven for the Highlanders.

Nicolet girls golf

Sophomore Emily Murphy tied for ninth individually in the WIAA regional meet at Wanaki on Sept. 28 and advanced to sectional play that was held at Bristol Oaks Country Club in Bristol on Tuesday.

The top two teams and first three individuals not on those teams advance to the WIAA State Meet at University Ridge in Verona, on Oct. 10 and 11.

Murphy carded an 18-hole score of 86 to earn her spot. She was the top individual qualifier out of the regional.

Her efforts led the Knights to a seventh-place team finish of 425 as DSHA won with 328, and Brookfield Central (348), Pius XI (362) and Brookfield East (364) also earned team sectional berth.

Other finishes for the Knights included Jaclyn Clark (103), Rachel Rabben (115), Jennifer Lubinski (121) and Sarah Murphy (124).

The entire Nicolet team was made up of sophomores.

Shorewood girls volleyball

The Greyhound season has been much improved as with a recent 25-19, 25-15, 25-13 win over Brown Deer, they improved to 4-2 in Woodland Blue Division play, clinching second place. Last season, the Greyhounds were 1-5 in divisional play.

Coach Ryan Roessler said that the team has had only one bad match, against Pewaukee, but has otherwise played competitively.

"Overall, we have been playing at a much higher level," he said. "Overall, I'm excited about the potential of the team this season as well as the program in the years to come."

Key players are senior middle hitter Sydney Cross who leads the team in kills, freshman outside hitter and setter Ashley Eimers, who has proved to be invaluable by being able to play almost every position on the floor.

Sophomore outside hitter Paige Clingaman has carried a huge weight offensively right behind Cross, and junior middle hitter Margaret O'Brien leads the team in blocks and has been very consistent all season on offense and defense. Sophomores Zoe Deprez and Brittany Lee lead the defense.

University School football

The offense was fine, but the defense could not hold up for the Wildcats as they lost a Midwest Classic showdown with Burlington Catholic Central, 55-34, on Saturday.

The Wildcats gave up 631 total yards to the Hilltoppers including 488 yards on the ground. A 28-point second quarter put BCC up for good.

USM got touchdowns from Dijade Denson (92-yard kickoff return), Duke Butler (22-yard pass from Tommy Pennington), Pennington (50-yard run), Kenny Servis (22-yard run) and Lane Stanford (13-yard pass from Pennington). Pennington had 100 yards rushing on 15 carries.

"It felt like our defense was on the field almost the entire game," USM coach Brian Sommers said.

Nicolet football

The Knights could not hold off the potent Cedarburg offense, as they dropped a tough, 40-8, North Shore decision to the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Cedarburg went up 26-0 at the half on the Knights and never looked back. Nicolet was not able to score until the score was 33-0. Brandon Kappel found the end zone on a 5-yard run and then Mark Moeser ran in the two-point conversion.

Nicolet fell to 1-4 in North Shore play and 3-4 overall. Cedarburg gained 503 yards in total offense.

Shorewood/Messmer football

The Greyhounds held up through the first half with a more physical Kenosha St. Joseph's squad, but then were just overwhelmed in a 35-14 home decision on Friday.

"They're from the southern part (of the Midwest Classic Conference), and they play more physical down there," Greyhounds coach Drake Zortman said. "We battled for awhile, longer than we have in the past, but in the end, they outhit us."

Jamal Hayes took a 30-yaqrd pass from Taylor Dennis to give Shorewood/Messmer an early lead and then Xavier Johnson caught an 11-yard Dennis strike to make it 14-7 Greyhounds early in the third quarter, but then St. Joe's scored four unanswered TDs in a row to put the game away.

The Greyhounds took a huge hit in the game when star linebacker Alec Grimmer had to go out with a shoulder injury.

Shorewood boys soccer

The Greyhounds improved to 7-6-3 overall and 5-2-3 in Woodland Conference play with a 4-0 win over Cudahy/St. Francis on Monday.

Pewaukee (9-1) and New Berlin West (8-1-1) currently sit atop the Woodland standings.

Shorewood got goals from Elliot Lane, Henry Cummings, Henry Kruger and X. Jaber to earn the win.

They closed out Woodland Conference play Wednesday against Brown Deer and now looks forward to WIAA tournament play which begins Oct. 11.

Shorewood girls cross country

The Greyhounds used a balanced effort to take fifth in the Racine Case Eagle Invite on Saturday.

Shorewood scored 177 points in the 14-team meet as Arrowhead dominated with 29.

Abby Pech (15:20), Haley Florsheim (15:21) and Haley Holan (15:27), finished 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively, on the scoring fast 4,000-meter UW-Parkside course.

Other scoring runners included Angie Sperry in 63rd (16:31) and Lindsey Morris in 78th (16:47).

Homestead girls cross country

Lauren Holtz competed well against some of the best runners in the state in taking fifth in the Racine Case Eagle Invite at UW-Parkside on Saturday.

Holtz was clocked in 14:59 on the fast 4,000-meter course as state Division 1 champion Allie Fons won with a 13:59 time.

Holtz's efforts led the Highlanders to a seventh-place showing in the 14-school field as Meredith Frank in 33rd (15:59), Elisabeth Balistreri in 34th (15:59), Alex Holtz in 49th (16:16) and Lindsay Berman in 70th (16:38).

Whitefish Bay/Shorewood girls golf

The season came to an end for the Blue Dukes with an eighth-place showing in the WIAA regional at Wanaki in Menomonee Falls on Sept. 28.

Bay turned in an 18-hole score of 436 for its spot as DSHA won with 328.

Robinson Creighton led Bay with a 97, while Caroline Matkom came in with a 98. Other scores included Maria Donadio (115), Sierra Caine (126) and Lauren Wigton (132).

Wigton and Donadio are seniors while Creighton, Caine and Matkom are only freshmen.

Homestead boys cross country

Despite some good times, the Highlanders struggled to a 10th-place showing in the power-packed Racine Case Invitational at UW-Parkside on Saturday.

Homesteasd was led by Trevor Cho in 29th (16:45), Alex Vielmetti in 36th (16:57), Kale Mason in 62nd (17:37), Brandon Beschta in 77th (17:49) and Alex Greeley in 79th (17:55).

Brown Deer boys cross country

Curt Hogg took 41st (18:11) and Chris Jones was 43rd (18:20) to a 10th-place showing in the Purgold Invite at Sheridan Park on Saturday. Also running were Horst Burmeister in 56th (19:18), Thomas Simms in 62nd (19:47) and Jack Hermsen in 65th (22:16).

Nicolet cross country

Josh Greenberg was 11th in 17:16 to lead the Knight boys to a 10th-place showing while Lauren Cunningham was fifth in the girls race (15:12) to lead the Nicolet girls to a 13th-place effort at the Fond du Lac Invitational on Friday.

Brown Deer girls tennis

Five Falcons entries won their first round matches in the rain-shortened Woodland Conference tournament last weekend, but could get no further.

First singles player Simone Sherard, second singles player Katie Zachowski, third singles player Gina Wade; the first doubles team of May Khang and Mersaydez Vang and the second doubles team of Jou Xiong and Vang, all won first round matches but all lost in the quarterfinals.

Wade won a quarterfinal consolation match, but the backdraw was hampered by persistent rains which interrupted play.

Brown Deer hosted WIAA sectional play on Wednesday.

- Steven L. Tietz