Manitowoc Lincoln Girls Tennis Coach Stephanie Henschel will lead 3 players to the WIAA State Individual Tennis Tournament at Nielsen Stadium in Madison.
The tourney begins today (October 14th) for the Ships #1 Doubles team of 16-4 McKenna Pleus and Hannah Dvorak, along with 24-0 singles player Olivia Minikel.
Henschel is in her 2nd year as the head coach, and told Seehafer News, “I’m pretty excited for them. Nielsen is a completely different atmosphere and I have two going for their very first time. So, it’s going to be a great weekend.”
The Dvorak/Pleus combination was named a special qualifier for state and they’re thankful to have their season extended.
“Honestly it means the world to me,” Hannah said. ”We’ve put forth so much effort this season, practicing and trying to improve our game, working on skills and different strategies to win.”
“When we didn’t win I felt like it was over but really it wasn’t and I’m so happy we’re going to make it.” Mckenna added, “It was very exciting to hear that after 4-years of high school tennis playing at a competitive level, doing the absolute best that I can that we were able to qualify for state.”
Minikel, despite an undefeated record, is seeded 9th and we asked Olivia if she’s disappointed and if it leaves a chip on her shoulder in not getting much respect from those in the seeding process.
“A little bit of both,” the unbeaten sophomore said. “I was pretty disappointed at first seeing the 9th seed but then it gives me a little bit more motivation knowing I can surprise some people by coming out there and beating the upper seeds.”
Olivia’s opening match in Madison is against Helen Hicks of Brookfield East at 10:30 this morning, while McKenna and Hannah open play against the Menomonie tandem of Wheeler and Luzinski at 3:00 this afternoon.
