Titans’ Women’s Tennis Schedule Includes Four Home Matches
The UW-Oshkosh women's tennis team will host the two most successful programs in WIAC history as part of its schedule for the 2018-19 season.
UW-Oshkosh, under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Robert Henshaw, is slated to play nine dual matches this fall and at least four more in the spring. Among the contests are home matches against 18-time WIAC champion UW-Whitewater and 15-time league winner UW-La Crosse.
The Titans will also compete at the UW-Whitewater Invitational on Sept. 1, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Division III Midwest Regional on Sept. 21-23 in St. Peter, Minn., and the WIAC Championship on Oct. 20-21 in Madison.
UW-Oshkosh's fall schedule begins with the UW-Whitewater Invitational. The Titans scored 11 points at last year's event to place seventh among the eight participating teams. The tournament features three flights of both singles and doubles completion.
UW-Oshkosh, which compiled an 8-9 dual-meet record a year ago, follows its season opener with dual matches at Marian University on Sept. 6 and St. Norbert College on Sept. 7. The Titans have dominated both opponents in recent years, winning their last seven contests against Marian University and 17 of their last 24 matches against St. Norbert College.
UW-Oshkosh then hosts defending WIAC runner-up UW-La Crosse on Sept. 14 at the Kolf Sports Center Complex for both its home and league opener. The Eagles have finished second in the conference four times during the past five seasons.
Following an appearance at the prestigious ITA Division III Midwest Regional, UW-Oshkosh hosts consecutive dual matches against Lawrence University on Sept. 25, UW-River Falls on Sept. 30 and 11-time defending WIAC champion UW-Whitewater on Oct. 2. The Titans have won 20 of their last 24 meetings with Lawrence University and 17 of their last 24 contests against UW-River Falls. The ITA Midwest Regional features one flight of both singles and doubles competition.
UW-Oshkosh then takes to the road for WIAC matches against UW-Stevens Point on Oct. 4, UW-Stout on Oct. 12 and UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 13. The Titans have been victorious in 20 of their last 27 matchups against UW-Stevens Point and 19 of their last 24 battles with UW-Stout.
UW-Oshkosh concludes the fall portion its schedule at the WIAC Championship. The overall WIAC champion will be determined by using a combination of the regular season dual-meet standings and the league championship results. The finish in the regular season standings accounts for one-third of the criteria while the conference championship finish accounts for the remaining two-thirds. UW-Oshkosh has finished fourth in the WIAC during each of the past six seasons.
Finishing behind champion UW-Whitewater and runner-up UW-La Crosse in last year's overall WIAC standings were third-place UW-Eau Claire, fourth-place UW-Oshkosh, fifth-place UW-Stout, sixth-place UW-Stevens Point and seventh-place UW-River Falls.
UW-Oshkosh's spring schedule is not complete, but it will include dual matches against Carthage College, Coe College (Iowa), Illinois Institute of Technology and Luther College (Iowa). If the Titans finish among the top four squads at the WIAC Championship, they will also participate at the WIAC Team Tournament on April 27. The winner of that event WILL earn the WIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
UW-Oshkosh returns six of its 10 letter winners from last year's team, including senior Hannah Peters (No. 3 singles), and juniors Alyssa Leffler (No. 2 singles) and Samantha Koppa (No. 4 singles) who all placed fourth in their respective category at the WIAC Championship.
The Titans also welcome back senior Ashlee Polena, junior Monica Micoliczyk and sophomore Kelley Hodyl as letter winners from a year ago.
Koppa led UW-Oshkosh with 12 individual wins last season while Hodyl followed with 11. Peters and Bailey Sagen, who completed her four-year UW-Oshkosh career last spring, paced the Titans with nine doubles victories.
UW-Oshkosh began practice for its 2018-19 season on Saturday (Aug. 18).