De Pere’s No. 1 doubles team, junior Maria Cristescu and senior Lillianna Graf, etched their names into the record books on October 17, doing what no other individual from their program, boys or girls, had ever accomplished: winning a WIAA state tennis championship. This isn’t just a big win, it’s a full-on historic moment for De Pere, marking the first time a local D1 girls doubles team has snagged a state championship since the tournament kicked off back in 1971.
The Road to Madness: Fighting for Every Point
Cristescu and Graf rolled into the tournament as the No. 4 seed, getting a first-round bye, which is always nice. They wasted no time making statements in the early rounds, crushing Eau Claire Memorial with a 6-0, 6-1 win on October 16, then dominating Neenah’s No. 13 seed 6-0, 6-2 later that day. They followed that up with a solid 6-2, 6-2 victory over Mequon Homestead. But the real fireworks started on the final day of state, in the semifinal clash against Neenah’s top-seeded duo, junior Sydney Michalkiewicz and senior Rebekah Thomas. Neenah was a beast, coming in at 30-2 for the season and having placed fifth at state in 2025.
Neenah took the first set, and it looked like they might just shut it down in straight sets. But then, as longtime De Pere coach David Reinardy put it, “all heck broke loose.” The second set was a pure battle, ending in an absolutely wild 16-14 tiebreaker for De Pere. Think about that: they fought off maybe seven match points! Reinardy said it himself: “It was not only the tiebreaker for the set, but if Neenah had won the tiebreaker, then the match is over. It was pretty spectacular.” And the match tiebreaker for the win? A super tight 10-7. Despite the nail-biting drama, the coaches believed. “We were actually pretty confident,” Reinardy revealed, “We thought we matched up pretty well with them, and we thought we had weapons and tactics that would be effective.” Talk about clutch!
Avenging August: A Perfect Championship Moment
That epic semifinal win punched their ticket to the title match, where they faced Hartland Arrowhead’s Isabella Heidenberger and Iris Liu. This wasn’t just any final, either. Cristescu and Graf had a chance to get some payback, having lost to this exact pair 6-4, 7-5 back in August. De Pere co-coach Scott Harpt mentioned that these teams are so evenly matched, they could play 10 times and probably split the wins right down the middle, five apiece. Well, De Pere definitely picked the perfect moment to snag one of their five.
The final score saw Cristescu and Graf take it 6-4, 4-6, 10-7, cementing their place in history. Reinardy described the title win as a “back and forth dogfight,” highlighting the sheer power on display: “Four players that can just beat the cover off the ball. All sorts of spins and angles and good serves and strong volleys and overheads.” What a performance to claim their historic WIAA state championship.
This junior-senior duo just rewrote the record books for De Pere tennis. For senior Lillianna Graf, what an incredible way to cap off her high school career. And for junior Maria Cristescu, this championship sets the stage for what could be an even more exciting final year. We’ll be watching to see what she brings to the court next season!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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