WIAC Championship Website

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's tennis team is set to compete in the 2024 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) on Saturday-Sunday, October 26-27 at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.  The 53rd gathering of league teams will be hosted by UW-River Falls and decide three sets of doubles winners, along with six singles champions.

UW-Whitewater captured its 24th team title in program history last fall with a team score of 21 points. UW-Eau Claire was second with 18 points while UWL was third with 15 points. UW-Oshkosh was fourth with 12, UW-Stevens Point fifth with nine, UW-River Falls sixth with five and UW-Stout seventh with four. 

UWL ranks second all-time with 15 league championships while UW-Eau Claire has won 12 conference titles.  

The 2024-25 WIAC champion will be determined by using a combination of the regular-season dual-meet results and the conference championship standings. The finish in the regular-season dual-meet standings accounts for one-third of the criteria, while the WIAC Championship results accounts for the remaining two-thirds. Enter the number of points earned in each flight next with the corresponding total (1st place - 7 pts., 2nd place - 6 pts., etc). Add all nine flights together to get the total championship points. Then determine the championship team place and points multiplied by 2 (1st place - 14 pts., 2nd place - 12 pts., etc.).

The top four teams (in the overall standings) will participate in a team tournament on April 26, 2025, to determine the conference's automatic qualifier into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship.The team tournament will be held at the site of the overall conference champion prior to the NCAA championship next spring.

Point distribution following this year's dual-meet rotation consists of: UW-Eau Claire (5-1) (6 points); UWL (5-1) (6 points); UW-Whitewater (5-1) (6 points); UW-Oshkosh (3-3) (4 points); UW-Stevens Point (2-4) (3 points); UW-River Falls (1-5) (2 points) and UW-Stout (0-6) (1 point).

UWL is 9-1 this season in duals, winning its last three matches. 

The initial day of competition at the conference event, which begins at 1 p.m., will consist of the first two rounds of doubles matches followed by the first round of singles matches. The second day of the championship commences at 9 a.m. and will feature the final two rounds of singles contests followed by the last round of doubles matches.

UWL's Tasha Bailey is seeded third at No. 1 singles entering this year's league championships. She is 6-3 on the season and faces sixth-seeded UW-Stout's Molly Garber in the first round. Bailey won the No. 2 singles conference title in 2021 and placed second at No. 1 singles last season. She has a pair of second-place finishes at No. 2 doubles at the WIAC Championships, including with Kaitlyn Kalinka in 2021 and Lauren Lindow last year. 

Shelby Roth is the second seed at No. 2 singles with a 9-3 record during the fall season. She takes on seventh-seeded UW-Stout's Aspen Johnson in the opening round. Roth finished second at No. 1 doubles with Hannah Cady last season. 

Bailey and Roth are the third seed at No. 1 doubles for this year's league championships with a 13-3 overall record. The duo faces sixth-seeded Alexis Budzinski/Chloe Struss of UW-River Falls in the first round. 

UWL's Cady is the top-seed at No. 6 singles this season. She is 6-1 this year in singles play after finishing second at No. 4 singles at the 2023 league championships. Cady takes on the winner of fourth/fifth-seed Morgan Milan of UW-Stevens Point or Vianna Dao of UW-Oshkosh. 

Lindow is the top-seed at No. 3 singles and faces the winner of the fourth/fifth-seed match between Alysa Pattee of UW-Oshkosh and Brooklyn Steier of UW-Stevens Point. Named the 2023 WIAC Newcomer of the Year, Lindow is 12-2 this season. She was second at No. 2 doubles last year with Bailey. Lindow and Emma Heinert are the top-seed at No. 3 doubles for this year's league championships. The duo takes on the winner of the fourth/fifth-seed first round match of Courtney Carpenter/Brianna Owens of UW-Oshkosh and Allie Brosteau/Abigail Ashley of UW-Stevens Point. Lindow and Heinert are 7-2 in doubles this season. 

Seeded third at No. 5 singles, Heinert is 9-6 this year. She faces sixth-seeded UW-River Falls' Grace Aerts in the first round. Heinert was second at No. 6 singles at the WIAC Championships in 2022 and 2023. 

The Eagles' Maia Samuelson is the second-seed at No. 4 singles and will take on seventh-seeded UW-Stout's Odessa Barreyro in the first round. Samuelson is 7-2 on the season. Samuelson and Cady are the second-seed at No. 2 doubles, entering the league championships with a 12-4 record. The duo faces UW-Stout's seventh-seeded Johnson/Barreyro in the opening round. 

Bill Hehli is in his 30th season as head coach of the UWL women's and men's teams. Inducted into the UWL Wall of Fame in 2017, Hehli has compiled a career dual record of 808-368 (.687) at the helm of the Eagles. He is 449-142 (.760) with the women's team and 359-226 (.622) with the men's squad. Hehli is the all-time wins leader in WIAC women's tennis history. 

Hehli is joined by assistant coaches Jarod Camerota and Shira Busch.