WIAC Tennis Championship (presented by Culver's)
Madison, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's tennis team completed first day action in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) Saturday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The championships resume Sunday, October 24 at 9 a.m. The 50th meeting of league teams will also decide six singles champions and three sets of doubles winners.
This year's team title will be determined by using a combination of the regular-season dual-meet standings and the WIAC championship results. The finish in the regular-season standings accounts for one-third of the criteria, while the conference championship accounts for the remaining two-thirds.
Point distribution following the dual-meet rotation consists of: UW-Whitewater (6-0) (7 points); UW-Eau Claire (5-1) (6 points); UW-La Crosse (4-2) (5 points); UW-Stevens Point (3-3) (4 points); UW-Stout (2-4) (3 points); UW-River Falls (1-5) (2 points); and UW-Oshkosh (0-6) (1 point).
All six UW-La Crosse players in the singles bracket advanced to Sunday's second round. Top-seeded
Kimberly Steinert received a bye in the first round at No. 1 singles on Saturday. She faces fourth-seeded Lauren Couves of UW-Stout in the second round.
Tasha Bailey, seeded-second at No. 2 singles, opened the tournament with a win (6-0, 6-1) over seventh-seed Alyssa Pattee of UW-Oshkosh. She faces third-seed Clare Palen of UW-Eau Claire in Sunday's second round.
UWL's
Kellie Hierl advanced to Sunday's second round at No. 3 singles with a win (6-0, 6-0) over Jenna Nolde of UW-Oshkosh. Hierl, the third-seed, faces second-seed Lindsey Henderson of UW-Eau Claire in the second round. Nolde is the tournament's sixth-seed.
Third-seeded
Hannah Riegle defeated sixth-seeded Chloe Struss of UW-River Falls (6-0, 6-1) at No. 4 singles in the first round and faces second-seed Kellie Ha of UW-Whitewater in the second round.
At No. 5 singles, the Eagles'
Morgan Graf defeated UW-Oshkosh's Alessandra Rivera on Saturday (6-0, 6-1). Graf is seeded-second while Rivera is seventh. Graf faces third-seed Alexa Brooks of UW-Eau Claire Sunday morning.
Kaitlyn Kalinka, the third-seed at No. 6 singles, opened the championships with a win (6-3, 6-0) over sixth-seed Karyn Duddeck of UW-River Falls. Kalinka will take on Morgan Nelson of UW-Eau Claire, the second-seed, in the second round.
In doubles play, Bailey/Kalinka advanced to Sunday's championship match at No. 2 with a pair of wins on Saturday. The duo, seeded-third, opened with a victory (8-0) over sixth-seeded Emma Heinert/Erin Gallion of UW-River Falls. Bailey/Kalinka beat second-seeded Molly Rueth/Courtney Day of UW-Whitewater in the second round (8-3). Bailey/Kalinka will face top-seeded Palen/Samantha Fuchs of UW-Eau Claire in the title match.
Steinert/Hierl, seeded second at No. 1 doubles, went 1-1 on Saturday. The duo defeated seventh-seed Kailey Courteau/Alexis Budzinski of UW-River Falls (8-2) in the opening round before falling to third-seed Autumn Bruno/Olivia Kraft of UW-Whitewater in the second round (8-7). Steinert/Hierl will take on fourth-seeded Barbara Covek/Jenna Koepp of UW-Stevens Point for third-place Sunday.
UWL's Riegle/Graf also went 1-1 on Saturday in the No. 3 doubles draw. Seeded-third, the duo beat sixth-seeded Anna Kent/Kylie Rennie of UW-Stout (8-1) in the first round, before falling (8-2) to second-seeded Alexa Brooks/Morgan Nelson of UW-Eau Claire. Riegle/Graf face UW-Stevens Point's fifth-seeded Grace Henes/Chloe Leithold for third-place.
