WHITEWATER WEATHER

Women’s Tennis Earns 15th Straight WIAC Championship

October 24, 2021

By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, UW-Whitewater

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Women’s Tennis Earns 15th Straight WIAC Championship

WIAC Championship Web Page/Results: https://wiacsports.com/sports/2021/9/16/WTEN_0916212159.aspx

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s tennis team claimed its 15th consecutive conference title Sunday on the second and final day of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (Presented by Culver’s) at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

The Warhawks totaled a league-best 55 points at the tournament, which counts for two-thirds of the criteria for the championship. UW-W combined that with its conference-high seven points from the dual meets in the fall to earn the program’s 22nd conference title all time.

UW-Whitewater will now host the four-team WIAC Team Tournament this spring to determine the league’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament, which begins in May.

Olivia Kraft led the Warhawks with titles at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles. She topped UW-Stevens Point and UW-La Crosse in straight sets Sunday on the way to her first career singles title.

Kraft then paired with Autumn Bruno at No. 1 doubles for an 8-6 victory against top-seeded UW-Eau Claire for Kraft’s second career doubles championship.

Bruno and Gianna Nikoleit finished as runners-up at the Nos. 1 and 2 singles positions, respectively. Other second-place finishes included Kellie Ha at No. 4, Courtney Day at No. 5 and Molly Rueth at No. 6. Day took the first set in her final before being edged in a third-set super tiebreaker.

Ha combined with Madalyn Bigelow to place second at No. 3 doubles. Rueth and Day defeated UW-Stevens Point to finish third at No. 2 doubles.

Following play, Ha was selected as the team’s representative on the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Kraft was named WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete. (A complete announcement will be released soon.)

The Warhawks’ spring season is scheduled to begin March 4 with a dual meet at Division I Northern Illinois.

See below for UW-Whitewater’s individual results from Saturday and Sunday.

Singles

Autumn Bruno – No. 1

First Round: d. Kailey Courteau (UW-River Falls) 6-0, 6-0

Semifinal: d. Elaine Franta (UW-Eau Claire) 6-0, 6-0

Final: lost to Kimberly Steinert (UW-La Crosse) 6-3, 6-2

Gianna Nikoleit – No. 2

First Round: Bye

Semifinal: d. Faith Leithold (UW-Stevens Point) 6-3, 6-2

Final: lost to Tasha Bailey (UW-La Crosse) 6-1, 6-2

Olivia Kraft – No. 3

First Round: Bye

Semifinal: d. Jenna Koepp (UW-Stevens Point) 6-3, 6-3

Final: d. Kellie Hierl (UW-La Crosse) 6-3, 6-2

Kellie Ha – No. 4

First Round: d. Hannah Stitt (UW-Oshkosh) 6-0, 6-0

Semifinal: d. Hannah Riegle (UW-La Crosse) 6-1, 6-2

Final: lost to Samantha Fuchs (UW-Eau Claire) 6-1, 6-4

Courtney Day – No. 5

First Round: Bye

Semifinal: d. Chloe Leithold (UW-Stevens Point) 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (12-10)

Final: lost to Alexa Brooks (UW-Eau Claire) 0-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)

Molly Rueth – No. 6

First Round: Bye

Semifinal: d. Kaylee Woelfel (UW-Stevens Point) 6-1, 6-2

Final: lost to Kaitlyn Kalinka (UW-La Crosse) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles

Autumn Bruno/Olivia Kraft – No. 1

First Round: d. Michelle Spicer/Jenna Nolde (UW-Oshkosh) 8-1

Semifinal: d. Kimberly Steinert/Kellie Hierl (UW-La Crosse) 8-7 (7)

Final: d. Lindsey Henderson/Elaine Franta (UW-Eau Claire) 8-6

Molly Rueth/Courtney Day – No. 2

First Round: d. Alysa Pattee/Hannah Stitt (UW-Oshkosh) 8-0

Semifinal: lost to Tasha Bailey/Kaitlyn Kalinka (UW-La Crosse) 8-0

Third Place: d. Faith Leithold/Kaitlyn Hess (UW-Stevens Point) 8-4

Madalyn Bigelow/Kellie Ha – No. 3

First Round: Bye

Semifinal: d. Grace Henes/Chloe Leithold (UW-Stevens Point) 8-2

Final: lost to Alexa Brooks/Morgan Nelson (UW-Eau Claire) 8-1

#FlashbackFriday with the Historical Society: Hamilton Gym & Field

October 23, 2021

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the Whitewater Historical Society.

Its time once again for #flashbackfriday with the Whitewater Historical Society.

Football is in full swing on college campuses, including the UW-Whitewater. This week’s view is the Hamilton Gym and Hamilton Field, the center of the university’s sports life prior to 1966 and 1970. Built in 1915, the Hamilton Gym was used for indoor sports until 1966, when the Williams Center opened. Hamilton Field was the location of college football until 1970, when the new Warhawk Stadium (Perkins Stadium) was completed. Hamilton Gym lived on for recreation and other purposes until 1983, when it was demolished.

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society collections.

(5513PC Whitewater Historical Society)

No. 3 Warhawk Football Edges UW-River Falls

October 23, 2021

No. 3 Warhawk Football Edges UW-River Falls

Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding – University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
October 23, 2021

Box Score: https://uwwsports.com/sports/football/stats/2021/uw-river-falls/boxscore/15414

The No. 3 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team took the lead with just under three minutes to play Saturday and held on late for a 34-28 victory at UW-River Falls in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest.

After the Falcons (5-2 overall, 2-2 WIAC) tied the game with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter, Jaylon Edmonson returned the ensuing short kickoff 46 yards to the UW-RF 19-yard line.

From there, Matt Maldonado put his 28-yard kick through the uprights to give the Warhawks (7-0, 4-0) a 31-28 advantage.

On the ensuing kickoff return, Daniel Baggett forced a fumble that was recovered by Kyle Koelblinger at the Falcons’ 14-yard line.

Three plays later, Maldonado hit a 31-yard field goal to double the UW-W lead to six with 1:51 on the clock.

On the first play from scrimmage on the next drive, Koelblinger picked off Kole Hinrichsen at midfield, and UW-Whitewater ran out the clock for the win.

Quarterback Max Meylor threw for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Tamir Thomas and Alex Peete led the Warhawks’ rushing attack with 83 and 74 yards, respectively. Derek Kumerow posted five receptions for 64 yards to lead all receivers.

Koelblinger led the defense with four tackles, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. Linebackers Shane McGrail and Aaron Sturdevant tied for the team high with six tackles apiece.

UW-Whitewater scored touchdowns on its first two offensive possessions and forced three-and-outs defensively on UW-River Falls’ first two possessions.

After a 41-yard punt return by Dain Hudson that was moved back to the Falcons’ 40-yard line on a penalty, the Warhawks took six plays to find the end zone. After a third-and-12 completion from Meylor to Ryan Wisniewski, Tyler Holte caught a 6-yard touchdown from Meylor at the 10:34 mark of the first quarter.

Thomas set up UW-Whitewater’s next touchdown with runs of 22 and nine yards, respectively. Meylor hit Wisniewski for a 23-yard score to make it 14-0 with 6:33 to play in the period.

UW-River Falls tallied 21 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 21-14 advantage into halftime.

After a UW-W punt, the Falcons drove near midfield. On third down, Niko Lemke recovered a UW-RF fumble to give the Warhawks the ball at the Falcons’ 44-yard line.

From there, UW-Whitewater tied the game at 21-21 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Meylor to Sam DeLany with 10:16 remaining in the third quarter.

Following a UW-River Falls punt, the Warhawks took the lead on a 10-play, 70-yard drive that included a 16-yard pass from Meylor to Kumerow on fourth-and-4 from the Falcons’ 33-yard line. Edmonson ran for 11 yards, and Peete completed the drive with a six-yard scoring run with 2:51 to go in the frame.

A turnover deep in UW-W territory set up UW-River Falls’ game-tying touchdown and set the stage for the final six minutes of action.

UW-Whitewater hosts UW-Eau Claire during Homecoming next Saturday, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m. at Perkins Stadium.

Volleyball Season Ends with Loss to #1 McFarland

October 22, 2021

The Whippet Volleyball Season came to an end Thursday night when they lost (7-25, 12-25, 10-25) to McFarland that is the #1 seed in the region and the #3 seed in the state for Division 2.

Caleigh Yang

Whitewater finished the 2021 season 14-16 overall and 5-4 in the Rock Valley Conference for a 4th place finish.  

Stats Leaders for the night:
Kills: Kindyl Kilar-7
Assists: Avery Hintz-7
Digs: Caleigh Yang-8

Article Submitted by Kathy Bullis
Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach
kbullis@wwusd.org
File Photo Courtesy of Bob and Peter Mischka

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