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Issued: October 22, 2006

THREE BLUGOLD CHAMPS, EAGLES TAKE OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP

MADISON – The UW-Eau Claire women’s tennis team came into day two of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship with all competitors still in contention and came out with three championships and second place in overall WIAC Championship team standings.

UW-La Crosse took its 15th conference title with 21 points compared to Eau Claire’s 18. The tournament counted for two-thirds of the points while the regular season dual meet records counted for the last third. The Eagles went 6-0 in the season and Eau Claire went 5-1, with the Blugolds dropping its last meet of the season to La Crosse. In the tournament, the Eagles grabbed 56 points with six championships. Eau Claire had 53 with the three championships. This garnered 14 points for La Crosse in the overall title standings as they were the best of seven teams and the tournament points counted for two-thirds of the standings. Likewise, Eau Claire gained 12. It is the second consecutive WIAC crown for the Eagles.

The final five teams were UW-Whitewater (15), UW-River Falls (11), UW-Stout (10), UW-Oshkosh (5), and in seventh UW-Stevens Point (4). Only Eau Claire and La Crosse took championships.

All three doubles championships today featured Blugold duos. In No. 2 play, #2 seed Kristie Carlson (Jr.-Arden Hills, MN/Mounds View) and Brenna McCormick (Fr.-Greendale) defeated the #4 seed River Falls team 8-2.

In No. 3 competition, the #1 seed team of Gina Dahl (Fr.-Fort Atkinson) and Liz Deprey (Jr.-Green Bay/Notre Dame) faced #2 seed Whitewater and edged out an 8-6 championship.

Laura Geissler (Sr.-Coon Rapids, MN) and Sarah Riordan (Jr.-Appleton/North) were ranked second in No. 1 doubles. They faced the #1 seed La Crosse pair and lost 8-5. The last time the Blugolds had a doubles champion was 2003 and the last time Eau Claire had two in the same year was 2002.

The lone singles champion came from No. 6 play, where #2 seed McCormick won her two matches today. She first beat #3 seed Tiffany Dawson from Whitewater 6-2, 6-1 and then defeated #1 seed Blue Devil Katie Carr in the championship by scores of 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. The last time Eau Claire had a singles champion was in 2002, when it had four.

Two more players made it to the championship rounds and took second. Dahl, #3 seed, won over Whitewater’s Jessie Farrar in No. 2 singles 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. After triumphing over the #2 seed, Dahl faced #1 seed Eagle Rachel Benn and fell 6-3, 6-0. Third seeded Geissler in No. 4 play was the other Blugold to make the championship. She advanced past #2 seed Kara Amundson from Whitewater 6-1, 6-2 and then played #1 seed Erin Fekete of La Crosse. The Eagle won 6-1, 6-2 in the championship.

A couple more Blugolds took third today. Riordan, ranked third in No. 1 play, lost 6-3, 6-2 to La Crosse’s Angie Riedel, seeded second. In the third-place match, Riordan won 6-3, 6-2 over #4 seed Falcon Becky Briese. In No. 3 competition, #2 seed Carlson lost to #3 seed Kara Theis from Whitewater by scores of 6-1, 6-2. She won third place 6-2, 6-0 against Cassandra Wood from River Falls, seeded fourth.

Second-seeded Deprey made it to the third-place match in No. 5 singles, but came up short 6-4, 6-1 to Falcon Mindy Rudiger, #5 seed. She had lost to #3 seed Jenny Woyahn from Whitewater earlier in the day 6-2, 6-4.

Blugold coach Craig Monson was named 2006 Coach of the Year. Angie Riedel from La Crosse won the Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award.

Final Results

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