UW-L Finishes Fourth at WIAC Tournament

For Immediate Release: Sunday, October 21, 2007

Madison, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women’s tennis team finished fourth in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Sunday night at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison. The Eagles, the two-time defending champions, finished with 11 points. UW-Whitewater claimed the league title with 21 points while UW-Eau Claire was second with 18 and UW-River Falls third with 14. It is UW-Whitewater's eighth conference title in school history and first since 2004.

UW-Stout finished fifth (9 points) followed by UW-Stevens Point (6) and UW-Oshkosh (3).

UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls and UW-La Crosse advance to a team tournament to decide the conference’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Tournament.   The WIAC team tournament will be held at UW-Whitewater the weekend prior to the NCAA championship in the spring.

UW-L freshman Katie McDonald won the No. 3 singles title Sunday with an 3-0 overall record. She defeated Mashell VerBockel of UW-Stevens Point (6-1, 6-0) in the first round and Cassie Wood for UW-River Falls (6-1, 6-4) in the semifinals. McDonald, seeded second in the tournament, then beat top-seeded Kristie Carlson of UW-Eau Claire (3-6, 6-2, 7-6) in the championship match.

UW-L had two players finish fourth in singles play at the WIAC Tournament and two others placed sixth. Sophomore Carlie Bohrman was fourth at No. 2 singles with a 0-2 record while sophomore Sarah Schoenwaelder was fourth at No. 4 singles with a 1-2 mark. Schoenwaelder fell to Emily Bouche of UW-Stevens Point (6-1, 4-6, 6-3) in the third-place match. UW-L junior Debbie Braun placed sixth at No. 1 singles Sunday while sophomore Kristen Holle was sixth at No. 6 singles. Both players went 1-2. Braun fell to Sarah Riordan of UW-Eau Claire (6-0, 6-0) in the fifth-place match at No. 1 while Holle lost to Lindsay Gillman of UW-River Falls (6-4, 6-3) in the fifth-place match at No. 6.

Sophomore Anna Schmidt went 0-2 at No. 5 singles for UW-L.

In doubles, Schoenwaelder/Bohrman at No. 1 and Braun/McDonald at No. 2 both placed third at this year's conference tournament. Schoenwaelder/Bohrman went 2-1 with an 9-8 victory over UW-Whitewater's Ingrid Stensvaag/Tiffany Dawson in the third-place match. Braun/McDonald also finished 2-1 with an 8-5 win over Alison and Kate Broerman of UW-Oshkosh for third-place.

Juniors Brit Wagner and Kelley McDonell placed sixth at No. 3 doubles with a 1-2 record. Wagner was also named to the inauguarl WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team at the conclusion of the tournament. The team was selected for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season.  It included one member from each school as selected by that school.

UW-Whitewater head coach Frank Barnes was voted the coach of the year, while the Warhawks’ Jessica Farrar received the Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award.