The girls’ tennis season ended in victory after winning its first WIAA state girls’ championship with a 4-3 win over Brookfield East on Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison.

The Rockets triumphed through all three double matches and continued its victory with a clinching win from junior Jordyn Lawatsch at No. 2 with a 6-4, 6-2 for the singles after Brookfield East won at No. 4 and No. 1 singles to cut the lead to 3-2, but Lawatsch ended the nail-biting match with her victory. The Rockets made it 3-0 when  senior Kendra Kappes and junior Christina Price won 7-6, 7-5 at No. 1 for the doubles.

Earlier in the day, the Rockets defeated Waunakee 5-2 in the semifinals. Neenah swept the doubles matches and Lawatsch and sophomore Kiki Risgaard both won in singles for a second time. In the quarterfinals, Neenah overturned defending state champion Arrowhead 4-3 as Risgaard and senior Megan Nasr each had singles victories. Sophomore Hannah Dorsey and senior Andrea Galloway and sophomore Amanda Dorsey and freshman Anna Beyer won in doubles. “We definitely supported each other and worked well as a team; however, we wouldn’t have been able to win the State Championship without the help of the rest of our team,” Beyer said. Beyer’s partner, Amanda Dorsey, said while everyone erupted in cheers, a majority of the team was crying and clinging to each other while jumping up and down out of peer joy.

Lawatsch smiled wide when she talked about the win. “I had more adrenaline rushing through rather than nerves at this point. When I clinched the match, all of my teammates and parents erupted with cheers and screams! My coach came over to me after the match crying because she was so happy.”

Kelly Van Handel, the team’s coach, spoke to the team after the tournament, exclaiming how happy she was and that she could not have been happier to be apart of such a wonderful team.

As for previous wins at NHS, this is the first FVA school to win a girls’ tennis state title. It was the first state championship in any sport for the Rockets since boys’ soccer won the 2007 state title. The title is the school’s 31st overall in 13 different sports. Neenah had been runner-up in girls’ tennis four previous times with silver trophies in 1984, 1986, 2000 and 2014.