It has been a goal a long time in the works for Olivia Kremer and Anna Willis.
The senior duo has been playing as the No. 1 doubles team for St. Mary's Springs tennis since their freshman year. This year, they finally accomplished their goal and qualified for the state tournament.
"At the beginning of the season we had the goal of going all the way to state," Kremer said. "Anna and I have been playing No. 1 doubles since freshman year so we have had this in the back of our minds for a long time."
Kremer and Willis knocked off Ripon's Layla Hein and Elizabeth Weiske in subsectionals 6-1, 6-0 before sweeping Monse Luquin and Maya Kawi from Lourdes Academy 6-3, 6-4. Those two wins clinched the trip to state.
It was the fourth time that Kremer and Willis had seen Luquin and Kawi this season, which both said helped calm some nerves knowing that a trip to state was on the line.
"We knew what they were going to do," Willis said. "They like to lob so we were able to prepare better."
In the sectional semifinal, the pair lost to Sophia Torke and Grace Villwock from Kohler in straight sets and then nearly pulled off the upset against Gwen Rau and Peyton Peterson in the third place match, losing 6-7, 6-0, 10-8.
Torke/Villwock are the No. 2 team in the state. Willis said getting to face tough competition before state was important.
"We never really play people that hit super hard so it’s kind of a shock, but we just have to learn how to adjust," Willis said.
Kremer and Willis (15-4) will play against Aeryn Messmann and Breleigh Mengel from Jefferson on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Nielsen Stadium in Madison. Messmann/Mengel are 21-3.
Kremer said the support and interest that students, faculty and staff at Springs have shown has been awesome, especially with a sport that the average fan might not know a lot about.
"Being part of the Ledger community, everybody is keeping track of how you’re doing throughout the season even if it’s not a sport that they’re necessarily familiar with," Kremer said. "They’re always asking us how scoring works and what we have to do to make it to state so it's really great to have the Ledger community at our back."
There are only 28 doubles teams left in Division 2 and both Kremer and Willis said that is something that they are proud of, regardless of the result.
"Anna and I have talked about this a lot, we’re just happy that we made it to state," Kremer said. "No matter how we do, we’re going to be proud of each other and proud of the success we’ve had this season."
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