2019 WIAC Women's Tennis Championship Preview

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will strive for a 13th consecutive title at the 2019 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Tennis Championship (presented by Culver’s) that will be conducted Oct. 26-27 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis. The 48th gathering of league teams will also decide three sets of doubles winners, along with six singles champions.
 
The Warhawks collected their conference-best 19th title in program archives a year ago with 21 overall points to top UW-La Crosse’s second-place total of 17 points. UW-Eau Claire finished third with 16 points, UW-Oshkosh fourth with 12, UW-River Falls fifth with nine, UW-Stout sixth with six and UW-Stevens Point seventh with three. UW-La Crosse ranks second all-time with 15 WIAC championships, while UW-Eau Claire owns 12 first-place finishes.
 
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-Oshkosh (3-3) (4 points); UW-River Falls (2-4) (3 points); UW-Stevens Point (1-5) (2 points); and UW-Stout (0-6) (1 point).

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.

The top four teams (following the conclusion of the WIAC championship) will advance to a team tournament that will determine the conference's automatic qualifier to the 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.

UW-Whitewater’s Sabrina Palavra is a two-time singles champion and has claimed a doubles title. She is the defending champion at No. 3 singles after winning No. 6 singles at the 2017 championship. Palavra teamed with Jessica Minkov to win the No. 2 doubles crown a season ago. Minkov also won the No. 6 singles championship last year.
 
The Warhawks’ Paige Nierman, who has a team-high 12 singles wins this fall, also owns a pair of singles titles, securing the No. 4 crown in 2018 after finishing first at No. 5 in 2017. UW-Whitewater’s Madeline Slicker emerged with the No. 5 singles championship a season ago.
 
UW-La Crosse’s Kaitlyn Kalinka and Maura Andersen are the defending champions at No. 3 doubles.
 
The weekend will also feature the following top wins leaders from each school: UW-Eau Claire’s Natalie Wijesinghe (14-2 singles); UW-La Crosse’s Kimberly Steinert (9-2); UW-Oshkosh’s Alyssa Leffler (9-5); UW-River Falls’ Karyn Duddeck (4-6) and Olivia Watzke (4-6); UW-Stevens Point’s Anna Dobbe (6-4); UW-Stout’s Lauren Couves (5-5); and UW-Whitewater’s Olivia Kraft (11-3).
 

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