WIAC Tennis Championship (presented by Culver's)
Madison, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's tennis team placed third at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) Sunday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The Eagles finished with 15 team points while UW-Whitewater won the conference crown with 21. UW-Eau Claire placed second with 18 points.
UW-Stevens Point finished fourth (12 points) followed by UW-Stout (9), UW-River Falls (6) and UW-Oshkosh (3).
UWL has finished in the top-three in each of the last nine seasons. The Eagles were third in 2012 and 2016 and placed second in 2013-15 and 2017-20.
The team title was 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.
UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, UWL and UW-Stevens Point advance to the team tournament in the spring to determine the conference's automatic qualifier for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship. UW-Whitewater will host the four-team event in April, 2022.
The 50th meeting of league teams also decided six singles champions and three sets of doubles winners.
UWL won three singles championships on Sunday with
Kimberly Steinert,
Tasha Bailey and
Kaitlyn Kalinka capturing titles. Steinert, the top-seed at No. 1 singles, received a bye in the first round at No. 1 singles on Saturday. She defeated fourth-seeded Lauren Couves of UW-Stout (6-0, 6-0) in the second round and took the title with a straight set win (6-3, 6-2) over second-seed Autumn Bruno of UW-Whitewater. It is Steinert's first career singles crown at the league championships after placing third at No. 1 singles in 2018 and second in 2019.
Bailey, the second-seed at No. 2 singles, took the league crown with a 3-0 record this weekend. She opened the tournament with a win (6-0, 6-1) over seventh-seed Alyssa Pattee of UW-Oshkosh. Bailey defeated third-seed Clare Palen of UW-Eau Claire (5-7, 7-6, 10-8) in Sunday's second round and defeated top-seeded Gianna Nikoleit of UW-Whitewater (6-1, 6-2) for the title.
Kalinka, seeded-third at No. 6 singles, opened the championships with a win (6-3, 6-0) over sixth-seed Karyn Duddeck of UW-River Falls. She defeated second-seeded Morgan Nelson of UW-Eau Claire (6-2, 6-2) in the second round and won the championship with a victory (6-4, 7-5) over top-seeded Molly Rueth of UW-Whitewater. It is Kalinka's first career WIAC title after placing third at No. 5 singles in 2019.
UWL's
Kellie Hierl placed second at No. 3 singles Sunday. She advanced to the second round with a win (6-0, 6-0) over sixth-seeded Jenna Nolde of UW-Oshkosh on Saturday. Hierl, the third-seed, defeated second-seed Lindsey Henderson of UW-Eau Claire (2-6, 7-6, 11-9) in the second round before dropping the title match to top-seeded Olivia Kraft of UW-Whitewater (6-3, 6-2). Hierl captured the No. 3 singles crown in 2019.
Third-seeded
Hannah Riegle placed third at No. 4 singles on Sunday. She defeated sixth-seeded Chloe Struss of UW-River Falls (6-0, 6-1) in the first round on Saturday before falling (6-1, 6-2) to second-seed Kellie Ha of UW-Whitewater in the second round. Riegle came back to finish third with a win (3-6, 6-2, 10-5) over fourth-seeded Kaitlyn Hess.
At No. 5 singles, the Eagles'
Morgan Graf also placed third on Sunday. Seeded-second, Graf defeated UW-Oshkosh's Alessandra Rivera on Saturday (6-0, 6-1). Rivera is was the seventh-seed. Graf fell (6-4, 6-4) to third-seed Alexa Brooks of UW-Eau Claire in Sunday's second round. She placed third with a victory over (6-2, 6-3) over fifth-seeded Chloe Leithold of UW-Stevens Point. Graf was third at No. 6 singles in 2019.
In doubles play, Bailey/Kalinka placed second at No. 2 with a 2-1 record. 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) before falling (8-2) to top-seeded Palen/Samantha Fuchs of UW-Eau Claire in the title match. It is Kalinka's third top-three finish in doubles at the WIAC Championships after winning the No. 3 doubles crown with Maura Anderson in 2018 and finishing third with Anderson at No. 2doubles in 2019.
Riegle/Graf finished third at Sunday's championships with a 2-1 record at No. 3 doubles. Seeded-third, the duo beat sixth-seeded Anna Kent/Kylie Rennie of UW-Stout (8-1) in the first round on Saturday before falling (8-2) to second-seeded Alexa Brooks/Morgan Nelson of UW-Eau Claire. Riegle/Graf defeated (8-3) UW-Stevens Point's fifth-seeded Grace Henes/Chloe Leithold for third-place. It is Riegle's second third-place finish at the conference championships. She teamed with
Lauren Witt to finish third in 2019.
Steinert/Hierl placed fourth at No. 1 doubles Sunday. Seeded-second, Steinert/Hierl defeated seventh-seeded 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 finished fourth after dropping the third-place match (8-7) to fourth-seeded Barbara Covek/Jenna Koepp of UW-Stevens Point. Steinert/Hierl placed third at No. 1 doubles at the 2019 league championships. Steinert was also third at No. 2 doubles in 2018 with Alyssa Boyer.
