Titans To Compete At WIAC Championship

UW-Whitewater aims for its third consecutive title at this weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Tennis Championship in Madison. The league's 38th postseason tournament will also decide six singles champions and three sets of doubles champions. Competition begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday at the University of Wisconsin's Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

This year's team champion will be determined by using the league's regular season dual meet standings and the conference's championship results. The finish in the regular season dual meet standings accounts for one-third of the criteria, while the placement at the WIAC Championship accounts for the remaining two-thirds.

UW-Whitewater earned seven points for its 6-0 dual meet record during the regular season. UW-La Crosse (5-1) followed with six points, UW-Eau Claire (4-2) with five, UW-Stevens Point (3-3) with four, UW-River Falls (2-4) with three, UW-Oshkosh (1-5) with two and UW-Stout (0-6) with one.

The initial day of competition at the conference championship will consist of the first two rounds of doubles matches followed by the first round of singles contests. The second day of activity will feature the final two rounds of singles matches followed by the final round of doubles contests.

The top four teams in the overall standings will advance to a team tournament that will determine the WIAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championship. The team tournament will be held next spring at the WIAC's overall champion.

A year ago, UW-Whitewater became just the second team in WIAC history to capture all six singles crowns and all three doubles titles. The Warhawks joined former league member Marquette University, which accomplished the feat in 1982.

This year, UW-Whitewater returns five singles champions and four individuals that teamed to earn doubles crowns.

Past champions back for the Warhawks are sophomore Kally Schaefer (No. 1 singles/No. 1 doubles), senior Ingrid Stensvaag (No. 2 singles/No. 2 doubles), junior Amy Siemon (No. 4 singles/No. 1 doubles), senior Michelle Daciolas (No. 5 singles/No. 2 doubles) and sophomore Annie Smith (No. 3 singles). Siemon was a member of the triumphant No. 3 doubles squad in 2007.

Additional champions returning are UW-Eau Claire senior Brenna McCormick (No. 2 doubles - 2006/No. 6 singles - 2006) and senior Gina Dahl (No. 3 doubles - 2006/No. 2 singles - 2007), UW-La Crosse senior Carlie Bohrman (No. 5 singles - 2006) and junior Katie McDonald (No. 3 singles - 2007) and UW-River Falls senior Katie Ostrowski (No. 1 doubles - 2007).

The top singles seeds for this weekend's championship are Schaefer of UW-Whitewater in the first flight, sophomore Chelsea Allbaugh of UW-Stevens Point in the second, Siemon of UW-Whitewater in the third, Smith of UW-Whitewater in the fourth, Daciolas of UW-Whitewater in the fifth and junior Kathleen Kappel of UW-Whitewater in the sixth.

In doubles play, the top seeds are sophomore Kelly Kuether and junior Kelly Stadum of UW-La Crosse in the first flight, Smith and Stensvaag of UW-Whitewater in the second and sophomore Megan Born and freshman Taylor Heltne of UW-Eau Claire in the third. UW-Oshkosh is serving as the host school for this year's championship.

UW-Oshkosh is serving as the host school for this year's championship.