The Blugold women’s tennis team fell to the UW-Whitewater Warhawks last weekend in Whitewater while competing in the WIAC women’s tennis tournament championship. The final score of the championship game was 1-5. 

In the WIAC championship semifinals, the Blugolds came out on top against UW-La Crosse, final score 5-2. This win carried the Blugolds to the afternoon championship matches against the Warhawks. 

Fourth-year human resource management and marketing analytics student and team captain Lindsey Henderson said that Whitewater has always been a tough team to face, but everyone gave it their all. 

“I think we’ve been playing the best that we’ve played all year, so I think we really worked up to the right point,“ Henderson said. 

The four teams competing were UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. The win for Whitewater secured the team’s spot in the NCAA Division III Championship. 

The Blugold’s season record ended at 11-8. Henderson said that although tennis is both individual and team-based, the Blugold team has a supportive dynamic that continuously cheers and brings each other up. 

Head coach Brian Biernat said that they strategize for the individual aspects of competition. Athletes are made aware of who they will be facing in their match during the week based on the opposing team’s lineup. 

Biernat said the team works during the week to hone in on tactics that they can improve, and then they come together to discuss different game plans. 

The women’s tennis team fell in the WIAC tournament to UW-La Crosse last spring, and this year the team made it a goal to focus on La Crosse as their first opponent, Biernat said. 

“We really got ready to win our first round, and I said let’s worry about that first before we go forward,” Biernat said, “that mindset really put us in a good situation to beat them in the first round and then have a winning record going against Whitewater.”

Biernat said that the team will have to replace their two top athletes after this spring, and the team is working on moving up current athletes to take these spots. Biernat said that they are also welcoming some new players that are going to be a very strong asset. 

Biernat said that these new dynamics will be helpful to the team in taking their competition to the next level. 

“Knowing that you can play at that level I think is really helpful too, because everyone on the team agrees that we deserve to be one of those top teams, now it’s just a matter of getting to that next level and winning,” Biernat said.  

The Blugold tennis season primarily takes place in the fall. The four teams who qualified for the WIAC tournament secured their spots by finishing in the top four of the conference during fall competition. 

Biernat said that in order to help the team mix things up and feel a different ball while preparing for their matches, they would practice mixed doubles with the men’s tennis team. This helped athletes gain confidence when playing at a fast level. 

Athletes also practiced injury prevention with assistant strength and performance coach Abigail Place, which helped prevent burnout and injury at the end of competition season, said Biernat. 

The women’s tennis schedule and future competition beginning in the fall can be found on Blugold athletics.

Schoenemann can be reached at [email protected].