UW-L Places Second at WIAC Championship; Three Players Earn Singles Titles

For Immediate Release: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009

Madison, Wis. - The UW-La Crosse women's tennis team placed second at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Sunday night at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The Eagles finished second with 18 points while UW-Whitewater claimed its third consecutive conference crown with 21 points.

UW-Eau Claire placed third (15 points) followed by UW-Stevens Point (12), UW-River Falls (9), UW-Oshkosh (6) and UW-Stout (3).

The team title is determined using a combination of the regular season dual meet standings and the conference championship results. The finish in the regular season standings account for one-third of the criteria, while the WIAC championships account for the remaining two-thirds. UW-L was second in the regular season standings, finishing 5-1.

UW-L, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater now advance to a team tournament to decide the WIAC's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship. The WIAC team tournament will be held at UW-Whitewater the weekend prior to the NCAA championship in the spring.

The Eagles had three singles champions Sunday in Madison, including Kelly Kuether (No. 1), Kelly Stadum (No. 2) and Carlie Bohrman (No. 4). It marks the fifth time in school history UW-L has had three individual singles champions (1989, 1992, 2005, 2006).

Kuether earned the No. 1 singles crown with a victory over UW-Stout's Allie Hinman (6-4, 6-7, 7-5). Seeded fifth in the championship, Kuether defeated fourth-seed Gina Dahl of UW-Eau Claire (6-4, 7-6) in her first match and beat top-seed Kalla Schaefer of UW-Whitewater (6-3, 7-6) in the semifinals. Hinman was seeded second.

Stadum was this year's second seed at No. 2 singles and went 3-0 to claim the title. She defeated seventh-seed Abby Werwie of UW-Stout (6-1, 6-1) and third-seed Ingrid Stensvaag of UW-Whitewater (6-2, 1-6, 7-6) to reach the finals. Stadum then beat top-seed UW-Stevens Point's Chelsea Allbaugh in the championship match (2-6, 6-3, 7-6).

Bohrman won her second career WIAC title Sunday night as she defeated the top-seed, Annie Smith of UW-Whitewater, in the championship match (6-4, 6-4). Bohrman also claimed the No. 5 singles title in 2006. Seeded second overall, Bohrman beat seventh-seed Katie Sorensen of UW-Stout in her first match (6-1, 6-0) and third-seed Kaitlyn King of UW-Stevens Point in the semifinals (6-0, 6-1).

In other singles action, UW-L's Mara Weiner was second at No. 5 while Katie McDonald placed third at No. 3 and Jenny Maruyama was third at No. 6. Weiner, seeded second, fell to top-seed Michelle Daciolas of UW-Whitewater in the title match (6-1, 6-2). McDonald entered the championship seeded third at No. 3 singles and earned third-place with a victory over Jenny Paxton of UW-River Falls (3-6, 6-3, 6-2). Maruyama was the second seed and defeated UW-River Falls' Amanda Drangeid in the third-place match (6-3, 6-0).

In doubles competition, UW-L's Sarah Schoenwaelder/Bohrman placed second at No. 2 after a championship loss to the top-seeded duo of Stensvaag/Smith of UW-Whitewater (8-5).

Kuether/Stadum (No. 1) and Maruyama/Andrea Vivian (No. 3) both placed third in doubles play. Kuether/Stadum, the top seed at No. 1 doubles, defeated UW-River Falls' Katie Ostrowski/Naomi Wolff in the third-place match (8-1). Maruyama/Vivian beat Kaylei Sorensen/Leah Benn of UW-Stevens Point to claim third-place at No. 3 doubles (8-0). Maruyama/Vivian were seeded fourth in this year's championships.

Stadum was also named to the 2009 All-WIAC Sportsmanship Team.