Oct. 22, 2014 By Paul Bressler
Fresh off the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Championships in which sophomore Megan Humphreys finished second, the UW-Whitewater women’s tennis team swept UW-River Falls and UW-Stout Saturday to extend its WIAC dual match win streak to 62.
“They gained some valuable experience,” head coach Frank Barnes said. “The rest of the team had the week off. They refreshed and came back to practice last week with some good energy.”
The Warhawks (9-0, 6-0) opened their day with a commanding victory over the Falcons (4-7, 1-5), the first of its pair of road victories.
“Our team performance against River Falls was really great,” freshman Bridgid McGuire said. “Everyone played really solid. My individual performance against River Falls was really great. This was the first time I was playing in the No. 1 position.”
The ’Hawks started off strong with a 3-0 lead after the opening doubles matches had concluded. Freshmen All-Americans McGuire and Alicia Beck cruised to an 8-2 victory in the No. 1 doubles slot. Junior captain Ashley Miller and freshman Alexandra Talyansky won doubles at No. 2. Senior Emily Sodemann and sophomore Brooke Hendricks culminated the doubles victories with an 8-4 victory.
Freshman Jillian Wallace and Hendricks didn’t surrender a game in the No. 4 and 6 spots, respectively. The top match saw McGuire win, while senior Amanda Dick won the No. 2 slot.
“I felt more refreshed after nationals, because I played against some excellent teams that pushed us [Beck] to our limits,” McGuire said.
The team concluded its day with a 9-0 thrashing of UW-Stout (3-13, 0-6) in which the ’Hawks surrendered just nine games in singles competition.
McGuire cruised to another top spot victory, while Beck tried her luck at No. 2 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles was more competitive, but the Blue Devils never threatened. Beck and Wallace took the top spot 8-3 while Miller and Siemon were victorious at No. 2 (8-2). The most competitive match of the day saw Hendricks and Talyansky fight for an 8-6 decision at the third and final position.
The ’Hawks, who have won seven consecutive conference championships, conclude their fall season next weekend with the WIAC Championship at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison on Oct. 25 and 26.
