Published: Oct. 1, 2014
Perfect combo
Hartford Union duo finishes undefeated in WLT
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
HARTFORD — Hartford Union’s Maddy Knight and Courtney
Lindemann have something that can’t be taught: camaraderie.
They’ve had that well before they walked onto the tennis
courts as wide-eyed freshmen hoping for a spot on the Orioles’ girls tennis
team in 2011.
Their bond started as preschoolers and continued when they
joined a summer recreation tennis league as third-graders.
They’ve been inseparable ever since.
On a chilly Tuesday afternoon, Knight and Lindemann defeated
Oconomowoc’s Gabby Brucker and Lexi Miller, 6-2, 6-1, to finish a threeyear
Wisconsin Little Ten run undefeated. That’s 21-0. It’s a mark that left
Hartford coach Andy Andress a bit envious of the seniors.
“The mental mindset and the makeup to not drop a conference
match against a rival or against another team that is maybe a better team, that
really is impressive,” he said.
The Orioles swept the three doubles flights, and Sierra Neu
won a hardfought match at No. 3 singles (6-4, 7-5) to give Hartford a 4-3 dual
meet victory to close the regular season.
The Orioles also secured a secondplace finish in the WLT,
behind West Bend East.
“West Bend East is a better team,” Andress said. “They’re a
better team than anybody else in the conference. They’re solid from top to
bottom.”
“But I’m very pleased with finishing second,” he added. “It
was a real solid performance for the season.”
It’s been a solid season for the Orioles’ doubles teams. The
three flights consist of all seniors and they went a combined 20-1 this season.
For Knight and Lindemann, who are 22-4 overall this season,
it was a bittersweet day and the red eyes indicated it.
“It’s our last home match,” Knight said, holding back some
emotion.
Lindemann was a bit tougher in holding back some emotions as
she wasn’t as red in the eyes as her partner. But the thought of playing her
last match at Hartford did rattle some of her emotions.
“I’ve never been without Maddy. We can’t not be together,”
Lindemann said.
Their three-year run through the WLT almost never happened.
As freshmen, they didn’t believe they were good enough to
compete with the upperclassmen on the team. The Orioles won the WLT in 2009 and
were in position to win the WLT again in 2011, which they did.
The Orioles won conference again in 2012.
So after an early-season practice, Knight and Lindemann were
ready to hang up their rackets.
“We were intimidated,” Lindemann said.
“Really close,” she added when asked how close they were
from not returning to practice.
They did go back and they didn’t leave any doubt behind
them.
They played on varsity reserve as freshmen, then moved to
No. 3 varsity doubles as sophomores. They’ve been perfect in the WLT ever
since.
They only played two three-set matches in three years of WLT
matches and won 80 percent of games played in conference.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Knight said. “We’ve been playing
together for nine years. We never thought anything of it freshman year and now
here we are. It’s such an accomplishment.”
“It means so much,” she added. “All the hard work and effort
we put into it is paying off. I can’t believe it really.”
And because their bond started at a young age, they always
had an advantage over their opponents. They knew each other’s strengths and
weaknesses, and how they handled every situation within a match.
“Courtney and I always had so much fun playing it together,”
Knight said. “It started as a kind of goofing off thing and we had a lot of
fun.
“Then we realized we weren’t that bad at it.”
They’ve never thought about playing anything other than
doubles together. They were joined at the hip on the hard court.
They will not likely play tennis in college so when the WIAA
state tournament series is done, which starts Tuesday with the subsectional,
that’ll be it, at least on the tennis court.
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