UW-Whitewater won their fourth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship in women's tennis Sunday in Madison at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.  This is UW-Whitewater's tenth WIAC women's tennis championship.

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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.

Point distribution following the dual meet rotation included: UW-Whitewater (6-0) (7 points), UW-La Crosse (5-1) (6 points), UW-Eau Claire (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 final point standings, after the conference championship, were: UW-Whitewater 21, UW-La Crosse 18, UW-Eau Claire 15, UW-Oshkosh 12, UW-Stevens Point 8, UW-River Falls 6, and UW-Stout 4.

The Warhawks won five of six singles flights and one of three doubles flights.  In 2009, UW-W won two of six singles flights and all three doubles flights, and in 2008 the Warhawks swept all nine flights for the first time since the conference featured only Division III teams.

On Saturday all six singles players won their first round match or had a bye.  In second round play on Sunday Amy Siemon (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) defeated Kelly Stadum of UW-La Crosse 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2) to advance to the championship where she lost to the number one seed Megan Born of UW-Eau Claire 6-3, 6-2.

At two singles Annie Smith (Algonquin, IL/H.D. Jacobs) captured the title by winning her first round match on Saturday and defeating Emily Bostwick of UW-Oshkosh in her second round match 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday.  Smith, the two seed, knocked off top seeded Kelly Kuether of UW-La Crosse in the championship 6-1, 6-1.

Megan Kasten (Verona/Verona) cruised to victory at three singles.  After earning a first round bye on Saturday, Kasten dropped one set in her second round match and championship match combined.  In the second round Kasten knocked off Jodi VanDeRiet of UW-River Falls 6-0, 6-0, and in the final she defeated Katie Gilman of UW-Eau Claire 6-1, 6-0.

At four singles Sydney Divelbiss (Middleton/Middleton) took care of business wrapping up the title as the number one seed after defeating Brianna Theobald of UW-Oshkosh 6-4, 6-1 in the second round and Jenny Maruyama of UW-La Crosse 6-3, 6-0 in the finals.

Alexandra Bayliss (Sheboygan/North) improved to 21-2 this season after earning a title at five singles.  Bayliss, the one seed, defeated Mara Weiner of UW-La Crosse 6-1, 6-0 in the second round, and topped Lauren Piotrowski of UW-Oshkosh 6-4, 6-0 in the final.

In the six singles flight, Lauren Aguilar (Gurnee, IL/Carmel Catholic ) knocked off the number one seed in the championship match to take home the title.  Aguilar won her first round match on Saturday and proceeded to win her second round match on Sunday over Whitney Tornow of UW-Oshkosh 6-2, 6-0 before topping Abby Tresedder of UW-La Crosse 6-2, 6-3 for the title.

The only doubles championship the Warhawks won was at the three doubles flight where the tandem of Kasten and Aguilar defeated Monica Preisig and Allison Fortier of UW-Stevens Point 8-1 in the second round to advance to the championship.  The duo battled Amanda O'Keefe and Lindsay Seccombe of UW-La Crosse to a 9-8 (6) win to earn the title.

Smith and Divelbiss took second at two doubles winning their second round match but losing in the championship to the number two seed of Maruyama and Tresedder of UW-La Crosse 8-3.

Siemon and Bayliss were upset in the second round by the fifth seeded pair of Allie Hinman and Abby Werwie of UW-Stout 8-6, but battled back to take third in a 8-1 win over Rachel Brown and Taylor Weuve of UW-Stevens Point.

Smith and Siemon are the most decorated current Warhawk women's tennis players, winning three WIAC championships each in their careers.

The top four teams, UW-Whitewater, UW-La Crosse, UW-Eau Claire, and UW-Oshkosh, will compete in a team tournament in the spring hosted by UW-Whitewater on April 30 to determine who earns the conference's automatic bid into the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III tournament.

The WIAC All-Sportsmanship team was also named at the conclusion of the tournament.  One member of each WIAC school is named to the team.  Lauren Aguilar (Gurnee, IL/Carmel Catholic ) was elected to the team for UW-Whitewater.

The WIAC Coach of the Year is Steve Francour of UW-Oshkosh while the Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete went to Allie Hinman of UW-Stout.

This concludes fall competition for the women's team who will return to action in March for their spring season.

For additional information, Frank Barnes