The Sun Prairie East girls tennis team put a cap on the 2026 regular season by taking on the Big Eight conference meet.
The event was hosted at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison on Wednesday, Sept. 30 and Thursday, Oct. 1. The Cardinals scored a total of 6.5 team points to place ninth of 10 teams in attendance. Middleton won the conference with a team score of 51.
Sun Prairie East seniors Babette Loesch (foreground) and Sophia Elsberry-Tenebruso (background) placed sixth in the No. 1 doubles bracket at the 2026 Big Eight conference meet, hosted at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 30 and Thursday, Oct. 1.
Sun Prairie East was best in doubles with a pair of sixth place finishes. The senior duo of Sophia Elsberry-Tenebruso and Babette Loesch accomplished this in the No. 1 doubles bracket.
Elsberry-Tenebruso/Loesch lost their quarterfinal match to drop to the consolation bracket. There, they rebounded with a 6-2, 6-1 win over a Madison East pairing. Their day ended in the fifth place match, where they took a 6-4, 7-5 loss to a Janesville Craig team.
Seniors Vahnyah Vickerman Kelley and Kalea Boyd followed a similar path in the No. 2 doubles bracket. They dropped their quarterfinal match to a Madison Memorial pair but bounced back in their consolation opener with a 6-4, 6-1 win over a Janesville Craig pair. Vickerman Kelley/Boyd pushed their fifth place match against Verona to three sets but ultimately lost 6-7, 6-2, 11-9.
Senior Allison Giese had the Cardinals’ best result in the singles flights. She lost her first three matches in the No. 4 singles bracket to find herself in the seventh place match. There, she finished strong with a 6-2, 6-3 win over a Janesville Craig opponent.
Up next for Sun Prairie East is the 2026 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) state tournament. Sun Prairie East won’t have to travel far for subsectionals nor sectionals as nearby Sun Prairie West will host both.
Tournament play begins on Monday, Oct. 5 with subsectionals. DeForest, Madison East, Madison West, Middleton, Monona Grove, and Waunakee will also be in attendance. Qualified teams and individuals will then advance to sectionals on Thursday, Oct. 8.
From there, athletes will hope to punch a ticket to the 2026 WIAA girls tennis state championships at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Individual state will take place from Oct. 15 through Oct. 17 while team state runs on Oct. 23 and 24.
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2026 Big Eight conference girls tennis meet team scores
1.Middleton, 51
2. Madison West, 41
3. Verona, 30
4. Sun Prairie West, 27
5. Madison Memorial, 23
6. Janesville Craig, 9.5
7. Madison East, 8
8. Janesville Parker, 7
9. Sun Prairie East, 6.5
10. Madison La Follette, 3.5