EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's tennis team competed at the WIAC Championship on Saturday and Sunday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison. The Blugolds finished in second place, and Anna Lee (Fr. - Buffalo, Minn.) was the individual conference champion in No. 4 singles.
Lee's route to the title began with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of UW-River Falls' Kaytlyn Syverson in the first round. Lee defeated UW-Stevens Point's Barbara Covek 6-1, 6-3 in the second round to advance to the championship match, where she prevailed over top-seeded Kasey Schlicht of UW-Whitewater 6-1, 2-6, 10-8.
In addition to Lee's title, the Blugolds had runners-up in two singles flights and all three doubles flights.
Clare Palen (Jr. - Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) defeated UW-Oshkosh's Alysa Pattee 6-1, 6-1 and UW-La Crosse's Kellie Hierl 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the No. 1 singles championship. Palen dropped the first set to UW-Whitewater's Autumn Bruno 6-1 before retiring in the second set.
Samantha Fuchs (So. - DeForest, Wis.) won an opening-round match against UW-River Falls' Alexis Budzinski 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 singles. A 6-0, 6-3 victory over UW-Stevens Point's Tristin Jantz in the second round sent Fuchs to the finals, where UW-Whitewater's Gianna Nikoleit won the championship with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Morgan Nelson (Jr. - Beaver Dam, Wis.) advanced out of the first round at No. 3 singles with a 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 win over UW-River Falls' Chloe Struss. Nelson fell to UW-La Crosse's Katie Kearney 6-3, 6-1, in the second round and finished fourth following a 1-6, 6-2, 11-9 defeat to UW-Stevens Point's Faith Leithold.
Morgan Dekan (So. - Altoona, Wis.) placed fourth at No. 5 singles. Dekan beat UW-River Falls' Karyn Duddeck 6-1, 6-2 in the first round before falling to UW-Whitewater's Kellie Ha 6-0, 6-0 in the second round. She wrapped up a fourth-place finish after UW-Stevens Point's Maya Kunze won the third-place match 7-5, 4-6, 10-6.
Sydney Presler (Sr. - Eau Claire, Wis./Altoona) took third place in No. 6 singles. Presler beat UW-Oshkosh's Hannah Stitt 6-2, 6-0 in the first round. The senior bounced back from a 2-6, 6-1, 10-7 defeat to UW-La Crosse's Emma Heinert by besting UW-Stevens Point's Chloe Leithold 6-0, 6-3 in the third-place match.
Palen and Fuchs defeated UW-Stevens Point's Quinlyn Mack and Tristin Jantz 8-5 to move into the No. 1 doubles championship. The Blugolds duo finished second after a narrow 8-7 (7-4) defeat against UW-Whitewater's Autumn Bruno/Cassie Lee.
Nelson and Lee won their first two matches at No. 2 doubles, toppling UW-Stout's Kyrstin Hanson/Ella Lamppa 8-0 and UW-Stevens Point's Barbara Covek/Jenna Koepp 8-4. They finished as the runner-up after falling to UW-Whitewater's Kasey Schlicht and Kellie Ha 8-2 in the championship.
Dekan and Presler beat UW-Oshkosh's Louisa Damkot/Cordelia Damkot 8-1 and UW-La Crosse's Kate Townsend/Izzy Schmeising 8-7 (8-6) to book their spot in the finals. They took second place following an 8-4 defeat to UW-Whitewater's Gianna Nikoleit/Courtney Day.
UW-Whitewater won the conference title with 21 points. The Blugolds' 18 points put them in second place.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
