Related Links:
2021 WIAC Women's Tennis Championship Web Page
NCAA Regional Rankings
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's tennis team will host the 2021 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship Presented by Culver's this Saturday and Sunday at Wangerin Courts.
Two spectators will be allowed per participating student-athlete and coach. If inclement weather forces the tournament indoors, play will move to Lake Geneva Tennis (Lake Geneva) and Premier Tennis and Fitness (Janesville), and spectators will not be permitted.
The Warhawks (10-5 overall, 6-0 WIAC) seek their 14th consecutive WIAC championship and enter the postseason on a nine-match winning streak. UW-W earned the No. 1 seed in this weekend's tournament after completing an undefeated run through the conference regular season slate to extend their win streak in duals against league opponents to 108 matches.
This year's tournament will follow the format of the annual WIAC Team Championship and will include three rounds and all seven teams.
UW-Whitewater received a first-round bye and will face the winner of No. 5 UW-River Falls and No. 4 UW-Stevens Point on Saturday at 4 p.m. With a victory, the Warhawks advance to Sunday's championship match, which is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
Senior captains
Paige Nierman (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson) and
Sabrina Palavra (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) lead UW-Whitewater into the postseason. Nierman is 8-3 in singles play with a 4-0 conference record, and has played eight matches at the No. 2 slot. Palavra is also 8-3 and has played a majority of her matches at No. 4. Nierman and Palavra are each 6-4 in doubles.
Palavra has played at No. 1 doubles almost exclusively with
Kasey Schlicht (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee), who owns an 8-5 doubles mark and a 6-6 singles mark. A first-year player, Schlicht has played all 12 of her singles matches at the first position and is 3-1 in the conference.
Other singles lineup regulars include
Olivia Kraft (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community),
Molly Rueth (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard West) and
Jessica Minkov (Schiller Park, Ill./East Leyden). Kraft is 6-6 playing primarily at No. 3 singles and is 8-5 in doubles, playing mostly at the No. 2 position with Nierman. Rueth is 7-4 in singles and 8-5 in doubles, where she has played at least three matches at all three spots and is 6-2 pairing with
Courtney Day (Oshkosh, Wis./North).
Minkov is 5-2 at No. 6 singles and 8-2 overall, and is 2-0 in a pair of matches at No. 3 doubles. Day is tied with Kraft, Rueth and Schlicht for the team lead with eight doubles victories.
The Warhawks are eighth in the NCAA Central Region rankings. Schlicht and Palavra are sixth in the doubles rankings.
The winner of the WIAC Championship earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins May 14.
