WHITEWATER - Monroe seniors Ellie Grossen and Chandra McGuire at No. 1 doubles qualified for the WIAA Division 2 state tournament with a second-place finish at the Whitewater sectional Wednesday.
Grossen and McGuire clinched their second straight trip to state by defeating Ripon's Jamie Gundlach and Alyssa Scoville 6-2 6-0 in the first round of the sectional.
In the semifinals, Grossen and McGuire (21-3) defeated Big Foot's Natalie Boldger and Morgan Grunow 6-2, 6-2.
"Ellie and Chandra had a few problems early in the Ripon match adjusting to the much slower pace that Ripon hit the ball," Monroe coach Brad Saugstad said. "Once Ellie and Chandra adjusted, they cruised through the match to qualify for state."
Grossen and McGuire lost a championship match at Madison Edgewood's Martha Longley and Grace Sibert 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Edgewood's top doubles team has beat Grossen and McGuire in two of three matches this year.
"In the championship we got the rematch with Edgewood that the girls wanted," Saugstad said. "Each set was a different story. In the first set, Ellie and Chandra made more volley mistakes than usual, but still put away quite a few volleys. The girls also won a lot of short points because of solid serves and returns. We also got up 3-2 and played with a lead the rest of the set."
Saugstad said in the second set, Grossen and McGuire made more volley errors than usual, but didn't get as many winners and easy points.
"The third set was kind of a strange set," Saugstad said. "We came out flat and fed a lot of easy putaways to the opponent and got down 4-1. Ellie and Chandra came storming back and got the score to 4-4, before giving Edgewood too many putaways at the net. The girls were pretty disappointed after the loss because they felt like the loss had more to do with our mistakes than anything Edgewood was doing."
Grossen and McGuire clinched their second straight trip to state by defeating Ripon's Jamie Gundlach and Alyssa Scoville 6-2 6-0 in the first round of the sectional.
In the semifinals, Grossen and McGuire (21-3) defeated Big Foot's Natalie Boldger and Morgan Grunow 6-2, 6-2.
"Ellie and Chandra had a few problems early in the Ripon match adjusting to the much slower pace that Ripon hit the ball," Monroe coach Brad Saugstad said. "Once Ellie and Chandra adjusted, they cruised through the match to qualify for state."
Grossen and McGuire lost a championship match at Madison Edgewood's Martha Longley and Grace Sibert 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Edgewood's top doubles team has beat Grossen and McGuire in two of three matches this year.
"In the championship we got the rematch with Edgewood that the girls wanted," Saugstad said. "Each set was a different story. In the first set, Ellie and Chandra made more volley mistakes than usual, but still put away quite a few volleys. The girls also won a lot of short points because of solid serves and returns. We also got up 3-2 and played with a lead the rest of the set."
Saugstad said in the second set, Grossen and McGuire made more volley errors than usual, but didn't get as many winners and easy points.
"The third set was kind of a strange set," Saugstad said. "We came out flat and fed a lot of easy putaways to the opponent and got down 4-1. Ellie and Chandra came storming back and got the score to 4-4, before giving Edgewood too many putaways at the net. The girls were pretty disappointed after the loss because they felt like the loss had more to do with our mistakes than anything Edgewood was doing."
