Crawfordsville girls tennis accomplished every big goal they set out for themselves this season. The Athenians defended their county title along with capturing the out-right Sagamore Conference title and won their third straight sectional title. Along the way the senior one doubles duo of Elyse Widmer and Mia Wagner was a pairing that was almost guaranteed to come away with a win. Not only did Widmer and Wagner finish this past season undefeated in the conference, a season ago at two doubles, they did the exact same thing.
The two also advanced to the individual tournament and fell in the sectional final to a tough Terre Haute South team in three sets. It’s safe to say the duo went out playing their best tennis of the season and can be proud of what they accomplished.
“They’ve always been a great duo together and it was nice to see them start to develop that chemistry with each other last year and it only was magnified this year when we moved them to the one spot,” Crawfordsville coach Kara Amundson said of Wagner and Widmer. “They started to win together very quickly and were relaxed out on the court and were able to compliment each other very well.”
This past season the duo went 17-6 overall. Every athlete wants to their senior season to be their best and for Widmer and Wagner they can say it they went out on top. The duo are the 2023 Journal Review Girls Tennis Players of the Year.
The saying that opposites attract is definitely true when talking about this duo. They explain how their talents and different play styles on the court allowed them to have so much success.
“We’re definitely polar opposites of each other,” Widmer said. “It was hard at first imaging us playing together but when we got on the court together things just seemed to click. Mia is a great backhand player while I’m a good at forehand. That allowed us to both play to our strengths and I’m glad we were partners and that it played out the way it did.”
“Going undefeated in the conference again was definitely a highlight for me,” Wagner added. “Coming in to this year that was a goal of ours and we knew that we could do it again. It just came down to us leaving it all out there on the court.”
The dominant doubles duo set the tone for the entire Cville team all season. Amundson notes how whenever her team needed a match to be won, that the Athenians could count on both Widmer and Wagner to come through.
“Having them that you can count in almost any match has been huge for us,” she said. “We know that we as a team can let them go out there and do their thing which is compete well and win. Their losses were few and far between this season and it was to good competition. No matter who we played we knew more times than not we were going to get a point from them.”
For Widmer who is a multi-sport athlete with the Athenians she noted how both her and Wagner were able to end their careers on top.
“Tennis has always been my favorite sport here in high school,” Widmer said. “Having a successful partner in Mia makes it even better. I feel like I’m a very competitive person and winning obviously means a lot to me. The more we’ve won I also feel like that’s just made us that much better as partners.”
“This season was just so much fun,” Wagner added. “To say that we ended on top and played our best tennis in our final match means a lot to me. We never gave up no matter who was on the other side of the net. Our Regional match against Terre Haute South showed that we weren’t going to go down without a fight.”
Both Widmer and Wagner have left their mark with the Athenian tennis program. They end their careers with three straight sectional titles and a lot of great memories.
