Saturday, the Mauston girls’ tennis team headed up the interstate to Black River Falls bright and early, and returned home with several girls winning second team all-conference honors.

At number #4 singles, Alyssa Crowe defeated Viroqua (6-4, 4-6, 7-6) to put her in the medal round.  She met a tough Luther opponent and went down to defeat in the Championship round (6-3, 6-2).  At #3 doubles, Ashlee Nelson and Allison Bauer brought home second team all-conference honors with a win over Viroqua (4-6, 5-7, 7-6).  They were also defeated in the Championship round by the team from Luther (6-3, 7-6).  Mary Jane Nate at #2 singles had some extremely impressive scores losing a super tie breaker for the third set 11-13 and winning a super tie breaker for a third set against a tough Viroqua girl 12-10.  “Janie played very competitively and very maturely, keeping her composure in both close matches. Rather than ‘playing not to lose’, Mary Jane played to win by placing shots, lobbing shots, and hitting strategic shots to the corners and her effort paid off.  It was great tennis to watch as she held the tournament at awe with a match lasting almost two hours and winning! It was a great ending to the Conference Tournament,” said Coach Laura Taake. Onalaska Luther won the Conference for the seventh year in a row.