In a recent announcement, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced they will hold a conference championship for men’s tennis and soccer. Both teams have played in different conferences for many years.
Men’s tennis returns from the New Jersey Athletic Conference, where the Warhawks have enjoyed back-to-back conference championships in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. The 2023-24 season will be the first time since 1995 that the WIAC will crown a men’s tennis champion.
The men’s soccer team returns after brief stints in the ACCA and the Coast-to-Coast Conference. They return nine years after the WIAC’s last men’s soccer championship.
The return of the men’s tennis team to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is generating a buzz of excitement.
“We know the potential of what the end of this season can bring. But we need to continue to work hard and focus on playing our best,” head coach Frank Barnes says about his team getting the chance to win the first WIAC conference championship since 1995.
The schools in the conference this year are UW-Stevens Point, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, Ramapo College (N.J.), Rutgers University-Camden (N.J.), State University of New York-Oneonta and The College of New Jersey. These eight schools will be split into two separate divisions, with Wisconsin and East Coast schools in the other. The winners of these two divisions will go head to head to decide the WIAC conference winner.
Soccer will return the following year for the 2024-25 season. The return of the men’s soccer team to the WIAC after their brief stints in other conferences adds an intriguing dynamic to the upcoming seasons. Their reappearance comes nine years after the last WIAC men’s soccer season. The teams competing in fall 2024 are UW-Eau Claire, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout, and UW-Whitewater.
“There are some really good teams in the Coast-to-Coast Conference, but once we move into the WIAC it’s going to be much of the same, there are going to be some really good teams,” Director of Athletics Ryan Callahan said on what we can expect from the first season of WIAC soccer.
Callahan is also excited for UW-Whitewater sports to be “back at home” as now all UW-Whitewater sports will be members of the WIAC.
Both teams will undoubtedly face new challenges and rivals, making the WIAC men’s tennis and soccer championships something to watch. The Warhawk men’s tennis will kick off WIAC play April 12 on the road against Stevens Point. The men’s soccer team will open WIAC play next year as they look to leave the Coast-to-Coast Conference with a strong last season. With a mix of experienced contenders and fresh faces, these returnees promise to inject a new level of competition and excitement into the WIAC. As the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons unfold.
