Titans To Play Warhawks In WIAC Team Championship Semifinal
Fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh plays top-seeded UW-Whitewater in the semifinal round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Tennis Team Championship (presented by Culver's) on Saturday (April 27).
Competition in the four-team tournament begins at 12 p.m. with semifinal matches between UW-Oshkosh (5-10) and UW-Whitewater (10-11) and second-seeded UW-La Crosse (15-4) and third-seeded UW-Eau Claire (14-4). The winner of each semifinal will meet at 3 p.m. for the title. Matches will end once a winner has been determined.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater will play their contest at the Janesville Athletic Club in Janesville while UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire will play their match at Lake Geneva Tennis in Lake Geneva. The championship match will be contested at Lake Geneva Tennis.
The winner of the WIAC Team Championship earns the league's automatic bid to the 49-team NCAA Division III Championship that begins play May 20. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.) is the defending national champion.
UW-Whitewater earned the right to host Saturday's WIAC Team Championship by winning its 12th straight regular-season league title last fall. The Warhawks have hosted and won each of the previous 11 WIAC Team Championships held.
UW-Oshkosh, which placed fourth in last fall's WIAC standings, lost 9-0 decisions to UW-La Crosse on Sept. 14, UW-Whitewater on Oct. 2 and UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 13.
UW-Oshkosh's singles lineup against UW-Whitewater is expected to be Alyssa Leffler (9-11) in the first flight, Samantha Koppa (7-11) in the second, Hannah Peters (4-11) in the third, Michelle Spicer (12-11) in the fourth, Ashlee Polena (4-7) in the fifth and Taylor Johnson (1-2) in the sixth.
The Titans' tentative doubles lineup features Leffler and Spicer (9-10) in the first flight, Koppa and Peters (2-6) in the second and Johnson and Polena (1-1) in the third.