Leffler Leads Titans At ITA Regional
Alyssa Leffler won a pair of singles matches to lead the UW-Oshkosh women's tennis team at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional this weekend (Sept. 23-25) in St. Peter, Minn.
Leffler compiled a 2-2 record in singles play and paired with Samantha Koppa for a 3-2 mark in doubles action. No team scores were kept at the ITA Midwest Regional.
Leffler lost a narrow decision in her first match before rebounding to win two matches that advanced her to the consolation final.
Megan Jans from Grinnell College (Iowa) slipped past Leffler in their opening-round match, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. In the consolation bracket, Leffler responded with triumphs of 8-3 over Claire Christian from Luther College (Iowa) and 8-5 over Torey Kegel from Nebraska Wesleyan University.
In the consolation-round final, Leffler suffered an 8-2 setback to Elizabeth Manlick from St. Norbert College.
Also competing for UW-Oshkosh with 0-2 records in the singles competition were Annie Docter, Paige Ganser, Hannah Peters and Bailey Sagen.
In the opening round, Docter fell, 6-3, 6-2, to Jessica Solberg from The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.); Ganser lost, 6-3, 6-4, to Olivia Gallagher from UW-Eau Claire; Peters fell, 6-1, 6-3, to Samantha Fleming from UW-La Crosse; and Sagen lost, 6-2, 7-5, to Hayley Clope from UW-La Crosse.
In the first round of the consolation bracket, Jessie O'Brien from the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) downed Docter (8-2), Bridget McKeegan beat Ganser (8-1), Brittany Goebel from UW-Whitewater defeated Peters (8-3) and Sarah Lasecki from Coe College (Iowa) downed Sagen (8-3).
In doubles play, Koppa and Leffler rattled off three consecutive victories after an opening-round setback by a score of 8-3 to St. Norbert College's Manlick and Meg Witt. The Titan duo then lost by default in the consolation-bracket final.
The UW-Oshkosh tandem of Koppa and Leffler notched wins by scores of 8-3 over Riley Abeyesekera and Laura Martin from Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) in the first consolation round and 8-2 over Jenna Stewart and Paige Vannausdle from Central College (Iowa) in the third round. Koppa and Leffler also won by default over Christian and Madisen Crow from Luther College in the second round.
Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's entries in the doubles competition were the partnerships of Peters and Sagen with a 1-1 record and Docter and Ganser with a 0-2 mark.
Peters and Sagen won their first match, 8-4, over Kaitlin Fosler and Sarah Lasecki from Coe College before falling, 8-0, to UW-Whitewater's Megan Humphries and Gabi Kitchell in the second round.
Docter and Ganser lost their first-round match, 8-3, to Gustavus Adolphus College's Abeyesekera and Martin.
Koppa also competed in the No. 2 singles draw at the Gustavus Adolphus College Invitational that was held in conjunction with the ITA Midwest Regional over the weekend in St. Peter.
Koppa produced a 1-1 record with an 8-4 win over Abeyesekera in the first round before UW-Eau Claire's Hannah Koch ousted Koppa from the tournament with a narrow 6-3, 2-6, 11-9 decision. Koch finished second in the No. 2 singles tournament to Cassandra Barr from Saint Mary's University.
UW-Whitewater's Humphries won the ITA Midwest Regional singles title over UW-La Crosse's Bridget Bellissimo. Humphries and Kitchell won the doubles championship over Lauren French and Haley Resnick from Coe College. With the victories, the Warhawks advance to the ITA Oracle Cup – the association's Small College National Championship – on Oct. 13-14 in Surprise, Ariz.
UW-Oshkosh travels to Marian University for a dual match on Thursday (Sept. 29).