MADISON, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's tennis team competed at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships this weekend. After a second-place finish in the regular season, UW-Eau Claire placed second with 54 total points and 12 championship points. Samantha Fuchs (Fr. – DeForest, WI), Alexa Brooks (Sr. – Beaver Dam, WI), Clare Palen (So. – Rochester, MN/Lourdes), and Morgan Nelson (So. – Beaver Dam, WI) all earned championship honors in singles or doubles play.
Samantha Fuchs's individual champion status came in the No. 4 singles flight with a bye in round one, a win over Kaitlyn Hess (UWSP) (6-2, 6-2), and a final round victory against Kellie Ha (UWW) (6-1, 6-4).
Alexa Brooks followed suit in the No. 5 singles session with a first round win versus Anna Kent (UWS) (6-1, 6-3), an upset in round two over Morgan Graf (UWL) (6-4, 6-4), and a championship upset over Courtney Day (UWW) (0-6, 6-2, 10-8).
At No. 1 singles, Elaine Franta (Jr. – White Bear Lake, MN) earned a third-place finish after a win in the first round over Michelle Spicer (UWO) (6-4, 6-3), a defeat in the second round to Autumn Bruno (UWW) (0-6, 0-6), and a win over Lauren Couves (UWS) (6-1, 6-2) in the third-place match.
Lindsey Henderson (Sr. – Prior Lake, MN) earned a third-place finish at No. 3 singles with wins a first round win over Emma Heinert (UWRF) (6-3, 6-4), a second-round loss to Kellie Hierl (UWL) (6-2, 6-7, 9-11), and a victory over Jenna Koepp (UWSP) (6-2, 6-4).
Morgan Nelson also took third place honors in her flight. At No. 6 singles, Nelson defeated Jade Schwichow (UWO) (6-0, 6-0) and Kaylee Woelfel (UWSP) (6-0, 6-0).
In doubles action, UWEC took part in each of the finals. Palen and Fuchs won the No. 2 doubles finals over Tasha Bailey/Kaitlyn Kalinka (UWL) 8-2 and the duo of Brooks and Nelson ran the table in No. 3 doubles by only conceding three total sets and defeating Madalyn Bigelow/Kellie Ha (UWW) in the finals, 8-1. Henderson and Franta suffered a close 6-8 defeat in the No. 1 doubles final for their runner up honors.
Elaine Franta also earned a spot on the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
With the conclusion of the tournament, he Blugolds end their fall session and have earned themselves a place in the team championships in the spring. UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point advance to the team tournament that will determine the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championship. UW-Whitewater will host the four-team event.
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