Tournament Website
Madison, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's tennis team placed fourth at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) Sunday afternoon at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The Eagles finished with 13 team points while UW-Whitewater won the conference crown with 21. UW-Eau Claire placed second with 18 and UW-Stevens Point third with 14.
UW-Oshkosh placed fifth (9 points) followed by UW-Stout (5) and UW-River Falls (4).
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, UW-Stevens Point and UWL 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 on April 29, 2023.
UWL had three players finish second in Sunday's singles championships. At No. 3 singles, second-seeded
Katie Kearney fell, 6-1, 6-1, to top-seeded Cassandra Lee of UW-Whitewater in the title match. Second-seeded Kearney defeated seventh-seeded Kyrstin Hanson of UW-Stout (6-0, 6-1) in the first round and third-seeded Morgan Nelson of UW-Eau Claire (6-3, 6-1) in the second round.
Kate Townsend, the second-seed at No. 5 singles, also finished second on Sunday. She opened the tournament with a win (6-0, 6-0) over seventh-seed Madeline Binczak of UW-Stout followed by a victory (6-1, 6-1) over third-seeded Maya Kunze of UW-Stevens Point in the second round. Townsend dropped the championship match (7-5, 6-3) to top-seed Kellie Ha of UW-Whitewater.
The Eagles'
Emma Heinert also placed second Sunday, finishing 2-1 at No. 6 singles. She defeated seventh-seeded Grace Aerts of UW-River Falls (6-0, 6-0) in the opening round and third-seed Sydney Presler of UW-Eau Claire (2-6, 6-1, 10-7) in the second round. Heinert fell (6-2, 7-5) in the title match to Bethany Marshall of UW-Whitewater, the top-seed at No. 6 singles. Heinert was named to the All-WIAC Sportsmanship Team at the conclusion of the championships, chosen for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season. It includes one member from each school.
Kellie Hierl finished third at No. 1 singles on Sunday. Seeded third, Hierl defeated sixth-seeded Lauren Couves of UW-Stout (6-4, 6-1) in the first round before falling (6-2, 6-1) to second-seed Clare Paten of UW-Eau Claire in the second round. She beat fourth-seeded Quinlyn Mack of UW-Stevens Point in the third-place match (6-4, 6-1).
UWL's
Susi Hu placed fourth at No. 2 singles. She opened the tournament with a win over (6-2, 6-3) over Ellie Becker of UW-Stout. Hu entered the tournament as the fourth seed and Becker the fifth seed. Hu then dropped her second round match (6-2, 6-0) to top-seeded Gianna Nikoleit of UW-Whitewater before falling in the third-place match (6-3, 6-2) to third-seeded Tristin Jantz of UW-Stevens Point.
Ani Bulbulian finished fifth at No. 4 singles for UWL. Seeded fifth, she opened with a loss (7-5, 6-0) to fourth-seeded Cordelia Damkot of UW-Oshkosh. She received a bye in the second round before winning the fifth-place match (7-6, 6-3) over sixth seed Kaytlyn Syverson of UW-River Falls.
In doubles play, Hu/Bulbulian placed fourth in No. 2 draw with a 1-2 record. The duo, seeded fourth, defeated (8-2) fifth-seeded Courtney Carpenter/Jenna Nolde of UW-Oshkosh in the first round. They lost (8-1) top seed Kasey Schlicht/Kellia Ha in the second round and dropped the third match (8-7) to third-seeded Barbara Covek/Jenna Koepp of UW-Stevens Point.
At No. 3 doubles, UWL's Townsend/Izzy Schmeising also placed fourth. Seeded third, Townsend/Schmiesing defeated (8-2) UW-Stout's Kylie Rennie/Ashlyn Dellerman in the first round. The duo dropped its second round match (8-7) to second seeds Morgan Dekan/Sydney Presler of UW-Eau Claire. UW-Stevens Point's Chloe Leithold/Grace Henes, seeded fouth, defeated Townsend/Schmeising in the third-place match (8-5).
Hierl/Kearney finished fifth on Sunday at No. 1 doubles. They entered the tournament as the third-seed and fell (8-7) to Lauren Couves/Ellie Becker in the first round. Couves/Becker were the sixth-seed. Hierl/Kearney came back to defeat seventh-seeded Alexis Budzinski/Chloe Struss of UW-River Falls in the second round (8-0) and earned fifth-place with a victory (8-1) over fifth-seeded Alysa Pattee/Alexandra Schmoldt of UW-Oshkosh.
