Titans To Compete At WIAC Championship
UW-Whitewater aims for a fifth straight title at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Tennis Championship this Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 22-23) at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison. The 40th gathering of league adversaries will also decide six singles champions and three sets of doubles winners.
The team title will be determined by using a combination of the regular-season dual meet standings and the WIAC Championship results. The finish in the regular-season standings accounts for one-third of the criteria, while the conference championship accounts for the remaining two-thirds.
Point distribution following the dual meet rotation featured UW-Whitewater (6-0) with seven points, UW-Eau Claire (4-2), UW-La Crosse (4-2) and UW-Oshkosh (4-2) with five each, UW-River Falls (2-4) with three, UW-Stevens Point (1-5) with two and UW-Stout (0-6) with one. The Titans have an opportunity to finish second overall, a standing they haven't achieved since 1997.
The top four teams (following the conclusion of the WIAC Championship) will advance to a tournament that determines the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championship. The team tournament will be held at the site of the overall WIAC champion the weekend prior to the national championship next spring.
UW-Oshkosh will have Emily Bostwick (Sr. • Whitefish Bay) start the tournament against Jenny Paxton of UW-River Falls in the top singles flight. At No. 2 singles, the Titans' Preslee Nolte (Fr. • Warren, N.J.) faces Amanda Drangeid of UW-River Falls. The third flight features UW-Oshkosh's Morgan Counts (So. • Oshkosh) battling Jodi VanDeRiet of UW-River Falls.
The No. 4 singles match-ups include second-seed Brianna Theobald (So. • Manitowoc) of UW-Oshkosh against Kasey Noll of UW-River Falls. At No. 5 singles, UW-Oshkosh's Lauren Piotrowski (So. • Greendale) challenges Maggie Kregness of UW-River Falls. In the sixth flight, the Titans' Valerie Langkau (So. • Oshkosh) takes on UW-Stout's Elizabeth Lehnertz.
The Titans will send Bostwick and Piotrowski against Rachel Brown and Taylor Weuve (UW-Stevens Point) in the top doubles bracket. At No. 2 doubles, Nolte and Megan Etten (So. • Howard) battle the Pointers' Monica Preisig and Allison Fortier. The third doubles flight pits Counts and Theobald, a second seed, against UW-Stout's Lehnertz and Michelle Counsell.
Individually, UW-Whitewater's Kalla Schaefer has won two doubles crowns and one singles title in her career. She could become the third individual in WIAC history to win three No. 1 doubles championships. Schaefer has claimed doubles titles in 2008 and 2009 and secured the No. 1 singles crown in 2008. The Warhawks' Annie Smith is also a three-time champion at the league tournament, winning at No. 3 singles in 2008, No. 2 singles in 2010 and No. 2 doubles in 2009.
Additional returning champions are UW-Eau Claire's Taylor Heltne (No. 6 singles - 2009), UW-La Crosse's Jenny Maruyama (No. 2 doubles - 2010) and Abby Tresedder (No. 2 doubles - 2010) and UW-Whitewater's Megan Kasten (No. 3 singles - 2010, No. 3 doubles - 2010), Sydney Divelbiss (No. 4 singles - 2010), Alexandra Bayliss (No. 5 singles - 2010) and Lauren Aguilar (No. 6 singles - 2010, No. 3 doubles - 2010).
The initial day of competition at the event will consist of the first two rounds of doubles matches followed by the first round of singles play. The second day features the final two rounds of singles matches and the last round of doubles.