Oakland University women's tennis began play Friday, Oct. 2, at the Horizon League Individual Championship in Cleveland with a singles title to defend.

Junior Martyna Piechowicz won the 2025 singles crown at the conference tournament, beating teammate Oliwia Klimas 6-2, 6-3 in an all-Oakland final. Both advanced through the draw undefeated before meeting in the championship match, according to Oakland Athletics. That title sent Piechowicz to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Conference Masters Championships in San Diego in November 2025, where she became the first Golden Grizzly to qualify for the event.

Piechowicz and Klimas, a sophomore, return to a 32-player singles draw. On the doubles side, seniors Edie Hammond and Emilia Jarvinen reached the 2025 semifinals before losing 11-9 in an eight-game pro set to Youngstown State's Line Greyling and Yeseniia Ovcharova. That YSU pair went on to win the doubles title.

The three-day tournament runs through Sunday, Oct. 4, at Cleveland State's Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion. Play starts at 9 a.m. ET Friday with two rounds of singles and one round of doubles. Saturday's matches begin at 10 a.m. Sunday's finals start at 11 a.m. Singles matches use a full third set, while doubles are decided by eight-game pro sets.

The six-team field includes Cleveland State, IU Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Oakland, Youngstown State and Northern Illinois, the Horizon League's newest member.

Oakland entered the 2026 season ranked No. 1 in the Horizon League preseason poll for the first time since joining the conference. The Golden Grizzlies received four of six first-place votes and 34 total points, finishing ahead of defending team champion Youngstown State at 28 points. The Penguins remain a threat: YSU's Ovcharova went 3-0 in singles at the WMU Betsy Kuhle Invitational in September, and YSU doubles pairs beat both Oakland tandems at that event, according to YSU Athletics. Ovcharova and Kariman Buqai topped Hammond and Jarvinen 6-1, while Hannah Telzynska and Buqai beat Klimas and Piechowicz 7-5.

The bracket champion in singles and doubles each earns an invitation to the ITA Conference Masters, scheduled for Nov. 5-8 at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga. All four semifinalists at that event qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship, and the doubles champion and finalist advance to the NCAA Doubles Championship.