Women's Tennis Grabs Second Place Finish At WIAC Championships

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Posted: Sunday, October 21, 2007

MADISON, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire women's tennis team wrapped up their season this weekend with an outstanding performance at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship. Thanks to great efforts by all the team members the Blugolds claimed a second place finish, behind UW-Whitewater, in the season finale at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

On the second day of the tournament, the Blugolds had representatives in every championship match except for the No. 1 singles championship match. Unfortunately for the Blugolds, they were only able to come away with a victory in those championship matches, and the victory was in the No. 2 singles championship.

In the No. 2 singles championship battle Gina Dahl (So.-Fort Atkinson) defeated Jodie Czech of UW-Stout 6-4, 6-2. On her way to the championship Dahl took down Kathryne Ostrowski of UW-River Falls 6-0, 6-1 in round one and the No. 1 seed Carlie Bohrman of UW-La Crosse 6-4, 6-0.

In No. 1 singles play Sarah Riordan (Sr.-Appleton/North) finished her weekend with a victory that resulted in a fifth place finish. In the match for fifth place honors, Riordan defeated Debbie Braun of UW-La Crosse in convincing fashion 6-0, 6-0. In round one Riordan was defeated by Allie Hinman of UW-Stout 6-3, 6-2, and in round two Riordan had a bye.

Kristie Carlson (Sr.-Arden Hills, MN/Mounds View) was the No. 1 seed in the No. 3 singles bracket and received a bye in round one. In round two, Carlson defeated Kara Amundson in three sets 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. After her victory in round two, Carlson advanced on to the championship. Carlson lost the championship 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (6) to Katie McDonald of UW-La Crosse.

Brenna McCormick (So.-Greendale) like many of her teammates was unable to record a victory in her championship match. McCormick lost in Straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to the No. 1 seed Lauren Fahl of Whitewater. To get to the championship match McCormick defeated Mindy Rudiger of UW-River Falls 6-0, 6-0 and Sarah Schoenwaelder of UW-La Crosse 6-1, 6-0.

In the No. 5 singles bracket Erin Welch (So.-Tomah), the No. 1 seed, had a bye in the first round, and then she beat Brittany Braasch of UW-Oshkosh 6-1, 6-2 to secure a spot in the championship match. In the championship match, Welch lost to UW-Whitewater's Tiffany Dawson 6-3, 4-6, 1-6. Dawson was the No. 2 seed.

Liz Deprey (Sr.-Green Bay/Notre Dame) was the fifth Blugold to play in a singles championship match. To get to the No. 6 singles championship match Deprey beat Lindsey Luberda of UW-Stout 6-3, 6-1 and Kaylei Sorensen of UW-Stevens Point 7-6(5), 7-6(8). In the Championship Deprey lost to Jenny Woyahn of UW-Whitewater, 2-6, 1-6. Woyahn was the No. 1 seed.

On the doubles side of the equation, all three of the Blugold tandems were in their respective championship matches. However, none of the tandems were able to come away with victories.

Riordan and Dahl turned in solid performance on day one of the completion in the No.1 doubles bracket and earned themselves a spot in Sunday's championship. In the championship match, the tandem of Riordan and Dahl was defeated 5-8 by Kozue Matsumoto and Kathryne Ostrowski of UW-River Falls.

In No. 2 doubles competition, Carlson and McCormick, the No. 2 seed, were defeated 3-8 by Lauren Fahl and Jessie Farrar of UW-Whitewater. Fahl and Farrar were the No. 1 seed coming in to the tournament.

Eau Claire also had the No. 2 seed in the No. 3 doubles bracket. Deprey and Welch won two matches on Saturday to lock up a spot in the championship. In the championship, they lost a tough match 8-9 (3) at the hands of Amy Siemon and Brittany Gering of UW-Whitewater. Siemon and Gering were the No. 1 seed.

The WIAC Championship was the final event of the season for the UW-Eau Claire women's tennis team. However, since they finished in the top four, next spring the Blugolds will compete in a team tournament with UW-Whitewater, UW-River Falls, and UW-La Crosse. The tournament will be hosted by UW-Whitewater, and it will determine who will be the WIAC's automatic qualifier for the NCAA