Titans Finish Fourth At WIAC Team Championship
UW-Whitewater went unbeaten in five contests and UW-La Crosse in nine to defeat UW-Oshkosh at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Tennis Team Championship (presented by Culver's) held Saturday (April 28) in Whitewater.
UW-Whitewater, the tournament's top seed, won all three doubles contests and secured the semifinal win over fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh with victories at No. 1 and No. 5 singles. The match ended once a winner was determined.
UW-Oshkosh (8-9) then played for third place and third-seeded UW-La Crosse (18-4) swept the Titans by winning all six singles and three doubles contests.
UW-Whitewater (19-6) went on to defeat UW-Eau Claire (19-2), 6-0, in the title match and earn the WIAC's automatic bid to the 49-team NCAA Division III Championship that begins play May 10. UW-Eau Claire advanced to the title match with a 5-3 semifinal win over UW-La Crosse.
WIAC regular-season champion UW-Whitewater jumped to a 3-0 lead over UW-Oshkosh by winning 24 of 29 games in doubles play, including 8-1 victories by Gabi Kitchell and Alexandra Talyansky over Samantha Koppa and Alyssa Leffler in the second flight and Brittany Goebel and Julie Maertin over Kelley Hodyl and Lesley Kutnink in the third.
The Warhawks took the No. 1 doubles contest as Bridgid McGuire and Jillian Wallace defeated Hannah Peters and Bailey Sagen, 8-3.
UW-Whitewater clinched the win over UW-Oshkosh with victories by Kitchell at No. 1 and Paige Nierman at No. 5 singles. Kitchell defeated Sagen and Nierman ousted Kutnink by 6-1, 6-0 scores.
Singles contests involving UW-Oshkosh's Leffler in the second flight, Peters in the third, Koppa in the fourth and Hodyl in the sixth were not played to completion.
UW-La Crosse got its win over UW-Oshkosh started with three doubles victories, including an 8-5 triumph by Bridget Bellissimo and Sadi Spahn over Peters and Sagen in the first flight.
The Eagles also received wins from Alaina Bublitz and Hayley Clope at No. 2 and Maura Andersen and Shira Busch at No. 3 doubles. Bublitz and Clope defeated Koppa and Leffler, 8-2, while Andersen and Busch ousted Hodyl and Kutnink, 8-3.
Leffler gave UW-Oshkosh its most competitive individual result with her 6-3, 2-6, 10-6 loss to Spahn in the second flight.
Three Eagles had little trouble on the court as Bublitz defeated Monica Micoliczyk, 6-0, 6-0, in the fifth flight, Clope ousted Peters, 6-1, 6-0, in the third and Andersen bested Koppa, 6-0, 6-1, in the fourth.
UW-La Crosse's Bellissimo won the No. 1 singles contest with her 6-1, 6-3 decision over Sagen.
The Eagles' Tayler Garves was a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Ashlee Polena in the sixth flight.