Titans Open Tennis Season Against Defending WIAC Champion
The UW-Oshkosh women's tennis team faces a tough test right out of the gate when it travels to 14-time defending Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion UW-Whitewater for its opening match of the 2021-22 season.
Under the leadership of first-year head coach Jarod Camerota, UW-Oshkosh is scheduled to compete in 11 dual matches and two tournaments this fall. The Titans' spring itinerary will be announced at a later date.
UW-Oshkosh, which had the fall portion of its 2020-21 schedule canceled due to the global coronavirus pandemic, was able to play nine dual matches last spring, including a pair in the WIAC postseason tournament.
The Titans will spend the first two days of their new season in Whitewater as they battle the Warhawks in a dual match on Friday (Sept. 3) before competing at the UW-Whitewater Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 4).
UW-Whitewater compiled a 13-6 record last spring while capturing its 21st WIAC title with a 5-1 victory over UW-La Crosse in the championship match of the league team tournament. The Warhawks, who have won their last 110 matches against WIAC opponents, advanced to the second round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship before suffering a 5-0 loss to the University of St. Thomas (Minn.).
The UW-Whitewater Invitational, which features three flights of both singles and doubles competition, is expected to involve players from Augustana College (Ill.), Carthage College, Grinnell College (Iowa), Illinois Wesleyan University, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater. UW-Oshkosh finished seventh at the tournament in 2019.
UW-Oshkosh follows its trip to Whitewater with a dual match at Lawrence University on Sept. 7. The Titans have won 10 of their last 12 contests against the Midwest Conference opponent.
UW-Oshkosh then closes out the month of September with its longest homestand of the season. The Titans will host Ripon College of the MWC on Sept. 14, Wisconsin Lutheran College and Milwaukee School of Engineering of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference on Sept. 16 and Sept. 22, respectively, and WIAC rival UW-Stevens Point on Sept. 29.
UW-Oshkosh has won its last 14 matches against Ripon College and its last three contests against Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Titans won their only previous meeting with Wisconsin Lutheran College and 12 of their last 14 matches against UW-Stevens Point.
The month of October begins with the Titans traveling to UW-River Falls on Oct. 2 and UW-La Crosse on Oct. 13 for WIAC matches. UW-Oshkosh has won 10 of its last 11 contests against UW-River Falls.
UW-Oshkosh's next three matches are all at home, including WIAC competitions on Oct. 16 against UW-Eau Claire and Oct. 17 against UW-Stout. The Titans will also host Marian University of the NACC on Oct. 17. UW-Oshkosh has won 12 of its last 14 contests against UW-Stout and all nine of its previous meetings with Marian University.
UW-Oshkosh concludes the fall portion its 2021-22 schedule at the WIAC Championship on Oct. 23-24 in Madison (Nielsen Tennis Stadium). The overall WIAC champion will be determined by using a combination of the regular season dual-meet standings and 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.
The top four squads at the WIAC Championship will also participate at the WIAC Team Tournament next April. The winner of that event earns the league's automatic bid to the 2022 Division III Championship.
Due to the cancelation of last fall's traditional league championship, the WIAC sponsored a team tournament last spring that determined the 2020-21 champion. All seven teams participated in the tournament, with seedings based on head-to-head competition from each squad's six dual matches.
UW-Whitewater, the eventual champion, was seeded first in the team tournament after going unbeaten in its six WIAC dual matches. UW-Eau Claire (5-1 WIAC record in 2019) was seeded second, UW-La Crosse (4-2) third, UW-Stevens Point (3-3) fourth, UW-River Falls (2-4) fifth, UW-Stout (1-5) sixth and UW-Oshkosh (0-6) seventh.
UW-Oshkosh went winless in its nine overall matches last spring, including defeats of 9-0 to UW-Eau Claire and 7-2 to UW-Stout in the WIAC Team Tournament.
The Titans return three of their six letterwinners from last spring in Angie Carini, Michelle Spicer and Hannah Stitt. Spicer, who owns 22 individual career victories, finished fourth at No. 4 singles during the 2019 WIAC Championship and third at No. 5 singles in 2018.