2021 WIAC Women's Tennis Championship Preview

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will aim for a 15th straight first-place finish at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Tennis Championship (presented by Culver’s) that will be conducted Oct. 23-24 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis. The 50th gathering of league teams will be hosted by UW-Eau Claire and decide three sets of doubles winners, along with six singles champions.
 
The Warhawks collected their conference-best 21st title in program history in the spring. The championship was determined using a team dual-match format because the usual fall championship was unable to be conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UW-Whitewater secured the title with a 5-1 triumph over UW-La Crosse.
 
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-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).

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 owns five No. 1 seeds and three No. 2 seeds in the championship. Gianna Nikoleit boasts a 16-2 mark in singles competition this season, while Cassie Lee is 13-3 and Autumn Bruno is 10-5.
 
UW-Eau Claire’s Samantha Fuchs is 6-0 in conference singles events this fall, while Sydney Presler boasts a 4-0 mark. In doubles action, Fuchs and Clare Palen are 5-0, while Elaine Franta and Lindsey Henderson are 4-0.
 
UW-La Crosse’s Kimberly Steinert the reigning WIAC Player of the Year and has compiled a 12-1 record in singles contests and Tasha Bailey is 9-3. Kellie Hierl secured conference Newcomer of the Year recognition in 2019.
 
UW-Stevens Point’s 16-3 record this fall is the best in program history. The Pointers are led by Faith Leithold (15-3), Jenna Koepp and Kaylee Woelfel (13-3), and Kaitlyn Hess (11-4).
 
Michelle Spicer leads UW-Oshkosh with a 4-9 mark in singles. UW-River Falls’ Emma Heinert has a team-best 5-4 mark. UW-Stout is led by Ellie Becker and Lauren Couves, who own 7-3 and 6-3 records, respectively.
 

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