Published: Oct. 22, 2013
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
MADISON — West Bend East’s Lexi Keberle knew if she wanted
to be a state champion, she had to beat arguably one of the greatest girls
tennis players in state history.
It took six championship points to do it.
Keberle finally broke through on the sixth championship
point of the match when her opponent, Homestead’s Elizabeth Konon, hit a return
into the net to secure the WIAA Division 1 girls singles state championship in
an epic three-set final, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 on Saturday at the Nielsen Tennis
Stadium.
“It sounds pretty good,” Keberle said of her new state
champion title moments after receiving the gold medal. “It hasn’t quite sunk in
yet.”
Keberle (30-0) not only became the first West Bend tennis
player to win a state tennis championship, but also the first player from a
Washington County school — boy or girl — to win a state title. The girls
tournament has existed since 1971, while the boys tournament started in 1925.
“It’s super incredible; I’m so excited for her,” East coach
Laura Vraney said. “She worked so hard and she’s so driven. This has been her
goal since Day 1. I’m just so, so proud of her and the team is so excited for
her.”
Keberle is also the first freshman to go undefeated in her
first season since Homestead’s Aly Coran in 2008.
“I probably just played the best match of my life,” Keberle
said. “I played one of the greatest champions to ever come through here.”
While it was a match between the tournament’s top-two seeds,
some were still billing Keberle’s victory as an upset, maybe even the greatest
in state history.
Here’s why:
■
Konon was a senior and the two-time defending state singles champion with a
141-1 record. Her only other loss was in the state semifinal in 2010, her
freshman year. Her wins total is believed to be a state record, according to
the WIAA, by more than 25 victories. She was the top singles player on a team
that has won the last five team championships.
■
Keberle was a freshman. It was her first state appearance. She was relatively
unknown to those outside of the core circle of local tennis.
“I felt some nerves,” Keberle said. “I just knew I had to go
out there and play my game and do what I do well.”
Those familiar with Keberle’s background also knew a senior
versus freshman meant little to nothing as to which player may have been the
favorite. If there was a favorite, it would’ve been Konon, only because of her
experience at the WIAA state tournament.
But Keberle has won USTA Regional tournaments, so her being
in the final with a legitimate chance to win was no fluke.
Keberle had no double faults in her match, while Konon had
seven.
And it wasn’t like Konon didn’t know about Keberle.
Konon beat Keberle in a USTA tournament earlier this year in
the only other matchup between them. They could’ve faced each other during the
regular season in a tournament at Nicolet, but Konon didn’t compete in the
tournament, which Keberle won.
“She’s in great shape,” Konon said. “She’s really fast; she
gets to every ball. I think the match could’ve gone either way. It was really
close. She deserved it.”
As expected, it wasn’t easy, even after taking the first set
on Konon.
Konon took the first game of the first set when she served
three straight aces to end the first game. The players held serve until Keberle
broke Konon’s serve to take a 4-3 lead and go up a break.
In the second set, Konon got into a groove, while Keberle
said she felt like she was rushing her points and her serves.
“Elizabeth has won so many matches in third sets,” Keberle
said. “She’s such an amazing player, so experienced that she knows exactly how
to come back and win a second and third set.
“It was very important for me to win the first set,” Keberle
said, adding if the tide was reversed it would’ve been difficult to pull off a
comeback. “Even after the first set was over, I knew it almost meant nothing
because she could come back and win the second and win the third set because that’s
what she does great.”
Vraney expected the second set to be tough on Keberle, but
not the way it turned out, dropping all six games to force the winner-take-all
third set. Vraney said Keberle didn’t look like herself, so she just reminded
her to stay confident.
It was a see-saw battle in the third set, up to 3-3, as each
player held serve. Then, just like she did in the first set, Keberle broke
Konon’s serve to go up 4-3 and up a break. Keberle held serve to go up 5-3.
With the match on the line, Konon made it tough on the
freshman, fighting off consecutive match points to force deuce. They continued
to go back and forth, and Konon fought off match point after match point.
Konon gave everything she had as she tried to become the
sixth threetime state singles champion, even having to be stretched out late in
the third set with cramps.
“I was preparing myself for her to win that game and have to
regroup myself and win five more points to get the championship,” Keberle said.
“As the match went on, I kind of just enjoyed the moment.”
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