Women get ready for WIAC championship
Team seeded third in tournament, position held since 1992
McLean Bennett
Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: Sports
The UW-Eau Claire women's tennis team is all but roaring into this weekend's conference championship tournament in Madison.
The Blugolds won eight of their last nine dual matches, outscoring opponents 54-18 in that time period to finish the regular season 12-5-1 overall and 4-1 in conference dual meets.
"I'm feeling pretty good about going into the conference tournament," said coach Craig Monson, whose team is seeded third in the conference tournament, behind UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse.
The Blugolds have taken third place or better at the conference tournament every season since 1992 and have taken second place two years running.
The tournament is by now familiar territory for a few players. Junior Gina Dahl took first place in last year's No. 2 singles bracket and claimed the No. 3 doubles crown the year before with partner Liz Deprey. Junior Brenna McCormick took first place two years ago in both the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles flights.
Dahl is seeded fifth in both the tournament's singles and doubles brackets with junior partner Courtney Lynne, and McCormick is seeded fourth in singles and second in the No. 2 doubles bracket with partner junior Erin Welch.
"No. 1 doubles is a pretty tough position," Monson said, adding the pair has been improving through the season.
"If they get on a roll they can beat anybody," he said.
The team boasts three other top-three seeds this year. Freshmen Jackie Gillespie and Emily Hiebl are seeded first in the No. 3 doubles bracket and Welch is second in the No. 4 singles bracket. Michelle Reinders is third in the No. 5 singles bracket.
The team enjoyed an eight-game winning streak late this season before faltering 3-6 in their final dual meet of the season at La Crosse. It was the team's only conference dual loss of the season, though the Blugolds dropped a tournament match to Whitewater in September, too.
The team endured the conference gauntlet mostly unscathed this year despite a youth-laden roster, which saw nearly half the team's 13 spots fill up with freshmen. There were no seniors on this year's team.
"It was fun having some new faces and different styles of play on the team," McCormick said. "(The freshmen) have done really well."
The team will kick off the tournament Saturday at the indoor Nielson Tennis Stadium in Madison and finish the tournament the day after.
The Blugolds won eight of their last nine dual matches, outscoring opponents 54-18 in that time period to finish the regular season 12-5-1 overall and 4-1 in conference dual meets.
"I'm feeling pretty good about going into the conference tournament," said coach Craig Monson, whose team is seeded third in the conference tournament, behind UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse.
The Blugolds have taken third place or better at the conference tournament every season since 1992 and have taken second place two years running.
The tournament is by now familiar territory for a few players. Junior Gina Dahl took first place in last year's No. 2 singles bracket and claimed the No. 3 doubles crown the year before with partner Liz Deprey. Junior Brenna McCormick took first place two years ago in both the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles flights.
Dahl is seeded fifth in both the tournament's singles and doubles brackets with junior partner Courtney Lynne, and McCormick is seeded fourth in singles and second in the No. 2 doubles bracket with partner junior Erin Welch.
"No. 1 doubles is a pretty tough position," Monson said, adding the pair has been improving through the season.
"If they get on a roll they can beat anybody," he said.
The team boasts three other top-three seeds this year. Freshmen Jackie Gillespie and Emily Hiebl are seeded first in the No. 3 doubles bracket and Welch is second in the No. 4 singles bracket. Michelle Reinders is third in the No. 5 singles bracket.
The team enjoyed an eight-game winning streak late this season before faltering 3-6 in their final dual meet of the season at La Crosse. It was the team's only conference dual loss of the season, though the Blugolds dropped a tournament match to Whitewater in September, too.
The team endured the conference gauntlet mostly unscathed this year despite a youth-laden roster, which saw nearly half the team's 13 spots fill up with freshmen. There were no seniors on this year's team.
"It was fun having some new faces and different styles of play on the team," McCormick said. "(The freshmen) have done really well."
The team will kick off the tournament Saturday at the indoor Nielson Tennis Stadium in Madison and finish the tournament the day after.
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