Sept. 24, 2014 By Ryan Altman
Last weekend, the Warhawks women’s tennis team did something it has only accomplished once before in program history – sweep both singles and doubles at the Division-III Midwest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships [ITA].
In St. Peter, Minnesota, sophomore Megan Humphreys picked up her second consecutive ITA singles title, while the freshmen duo of Bridgid McGuire and Alicia Beck earned their first major doubles titles of their collegiate careers.
“[Sweeping both singles and doubles] is pretty rare to do because it doesn’t get done that often” head coach Frank Barnes said. “It’s something we’ve been building on for the past few years.”
After defeating the school’s all-time wins leader, Alexandra Bayliss, in the 2013 singles championship match, the No. 1-seeded Humphreys returned to the ITAs this year with the hunger to repeat.
Humphreys dropped just 18 games in five matches before her 6-2, 6-0 finals victory over UW-La Crosse’s Bridget Bellissimo.
She said she knew if she kept her confidence level high, her chances of back-to-back titles would increase.
“I definitely tried to take it one match at a time,” Humphreys said. “Each win did build up my confidence.”
“I tried not to put a lot of pressure on myself to repeat, but my last two matches really got me motivated,” she said.
McGuire, who is 3-2 in singles this season, also made a deep run in the singles bracket.
She reached the quarterfinals before dropping a tight 3-6, 5-7(5) match against Michaela Schulz of Gustavus Adolphus.
In doubles, the ’Hawks were just as strong, qualifying both top doubles pairings for Sunday’s final.
McGuire and Beck upset the No. 4 seeds, UW-La Crosse’s Bellissimo and Kimmy Mrozek, 8-5, en route to a finals showdown against their teammates, the No. 5-ranked pairing of Humphreys and sophomore Amy Upthagrove.
McGuire and Beck remained hot, going on to defeat Humphreys and Upthagrove in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
“Their win didn’t surprise me,” Barnes said of doubles duo, which entered the ITAs as the No. 9 seed. “Coming into the tournament, we thought both teams had a good chance of winning. Both teams were seeded and we knew they could make a run.”
“We can’t be upset to see our own teammates [in the finals],” Humphreys said. “No one likes playing their teammates, but I’m happy we both got there.”
The third ’Hawks doubles pair, consisting of Ashley Miller and freshman Jillian Wallace, reached the Round of 32, but lost 3-8 to No. 11 seeds Megan Johnson and Karen Moe of Northwestern College.
Miller and Wallace later rebounded to make an appearance in the consolation finals.
With the ITA victories, Humphreys, McGuire and Beck all qualify for October’s ITA Small College National Championships in Sumter, South Carolina, while also earning All-American honors.
“[Bridgid and Alicia] have achieved a lot so far this season,” Barnes said. “To have done it in the first month of their careers is great.”
The duo, seeded No. 9, took out the Nos. 8, 4, 2 and 5 double team en route to the title and are 11-2 together so far this season.
Jillian Wallace defeated Rachel Wabers of UW-La Crosse in the finals of the No. 1 singles super draw at the Gustavus Adolphus Fall Invite that was played concurrently with the ITA Regionals.
Freshmen Kelsey Laktash [No. 3] and Kassie Alexander [No. 7], sophomore Brooke Hendricks [No. 4] and junior Caitlin Fitzgerald [No. 7] reached the semi-finals of their respective draws.
In doubles, freshmen Rachel Siemon and Alexandra Talyansky won the Draw No. 1 doubles title.
Fitzgerald and junior Kristin Zeilinger reached the third round.
