Titans Defeated By Warhawks In Season Opener

The UW-Oshkosh women's tennis team opened its 2019 season with a 9-0 road loss to 12-time defending WIAC champion UW-Whitewater on Friday (Aug. 30).

UW-Whitewater (1-0, 1-0 WIAC) won 24 of the contest's 31 doubles games and swept all six singles flights in straight sets to earn its 98th consecutive victory over a WIAC opponent.

UW-Oshkosh (0-1, 0-1 WIAC) suffered a pair of 8-3 defeats in doubles play as Samantha Koppa and Michelle Spicer lost to Paige Nierman and Sabrina Palavra in the first flight while Lesley Kutnink and Alyssa Leffler lost to Molly Rueth and Megan Setter in the second.

The Warhawks won the No. 3 doubles challenge as Jessica Minkov and Olivia Kraft defeated Evie Chitko and Taylor Johnson, 8-1.

Elsie Ha gave UW-Whitewater a 4-0 lead with her 6-0, 6-2 victory over Johnson at No. 5 singles. Palavra then clinched the match for the Warhawks with her 6-1, 6-1 win over Spicer at No. 3 singles.

UW-Oshkosh's best individual performance came from Koppa, who won eight games during a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Kraft in the second flight.

Other winners for the Warhawks were Nierman at No. 1, Madeline Slicker at No. 4 and Courtney Day at No. 6 singles. Nierman defeated Leffler, 6-0, 6-3, while Slicker ousted Kutnink, 6-3, 6-0. Day outscored Chitko by a 6-0, 6-2 result.

UW-Oshkosh remains in Whitewater to attend Saturday's (Aug. 31) eight-team UW-Whitewater Invitational. The event features three flights of both singles and doubles competition.