MADISON - After receiving a first-round bye, Zac Newhouse and Matt Schrader finished 1-1 at No. 1 doubles, at the WIAA state tennis tournament last Friday.
The Stevens Point Area Senior High duo teamed to beat Erik Ehrengren and Ryan Gahagan of Hartland Arrowhead 6-2, 7-5 in their first match before falling to the eventual champion from Neenah.
Newhouse and Schrader did manage to win a set against Neenah's Spencer Mai and Wes Butler the 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 loss in the tournament's third round.
"They took that second one and were playing so well," SPASH coach Terry Smith said. "And then going into that third one, they couldn't maintain that level of play.
"All year, the big problem has been our return serves and serves. And that's what happened in the third set. As far as our level of play, we were right with them."
Against Arrowhead, SPASH dominated the first set but the Warhawks stayed with the Panthers in the second set. SPASH led 4-3 and Arrowhead rallied to tie the match at 5-5. The Panthers then won the final two sets.
"The second set, even though we won it, we fell into the same routine," Smith said. "They weren't at the same level that Neenah was at, so we got away with it."
Smith said Newhouse and Schrader, who are both juniors, were happy with their performance.
"They played well. I think they played as well as they could at this stage," he said. "But they've got a year to work on that and they're going to be dynamite."