September 16, 2015 By Emily Leclair
The UW-Whitewater women’s tennis team started off its 2015-16 season with back-to-back 9-0, 9-0 wins over Cornell College and Coe College on Sept. 2 in Iowa.
Senior Ashley Miller and junior Rachel Siemon started off the match against Cornell with a combined score of 8-0 in a win at the No. 3 doubles spot. Junior Megan Humphreys and sophomore Bridgid McGuire added an 8-1 victory at the No. 1 position, while sophomores Alicia Beck and Jillian Wallace won in the No. 2 spot with a score of 8-4.
“We only lost one senior,  so we had a lot of experience coming in,” Humphreys said.
Humphreys dominated at No.1 singles with a score of 6-0, 6-0. Wallace and freshman  Gabi Kitchell brought home wins in the No. 5 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
Beck (No. 4) and Siemon (No. 6) recorded identical victories, 6-1, 6-1 and sophomore Alexandra Talyansky closed the meet with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3.
McGuire and Beck combined for an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles to start the meet at Coe College.
Kitchell and Talyanksy recorded a victory at the No. 3 position, while Humphreys and Wallace won at the number one spot.
Humphreys and Kitchell brought home wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots with scores of 6-3, 6-2.
The ’Hawks placed first out of eight teams at the Warhawk Invitational on Sept. 5 in Whitewater.
“At the Warhawk Invite, I think we all kind of proved to ourselves that we’re going to get off to a good start and hopefully accomplish something great this year,” Humphreys said.
The Warhawks totaled 41 points at the meet, 10.5 points higher than the runner-up Augustana College (Illinois).
Kitchell finished first in the No. 1 singles position with a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 win, while Talyansky finished second in the No. 2 spot.
Beck and Wallace didn’t drop a set to win the No. 2 doubles championship, and Miller and Siemon brought home the title at the No. 3 position.
The ’Hawks continued its undefeated season on Sept. 13 on a double header sweeping UW-La Crosse 8-0 and UW-Eau Claire 8-0.
Humphreys and McGuire swept No. 1 doubles against La Crosse, while Beck and Wallace won at the number two spot and Miller and Kitchell took home the win at No. 3.
Humphreys finished first at No. 1 singles with a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Wallace and Siemon completed that shutout, winning at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
The ’Hawks took a 3-0 advantage against Eau-Claire in the doubles competition.
Humphreys took first in the No. 1 spot with a score of 6-1, 6-1.
McGuire and Wallace won by a score of 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 and No. 5.
“I think it was good to get some matches under out belt and get ready for our actual conference season and playing those important matches,” Humphreys said.

Gordon, Dechter take No. 3 Doubles Titles
The UW-W men’s tennis team made the semifinals of five of the six singles matches in its season opener on Sept. 11 and 12 at the Warhawk Fall Invite in Whitewater.
“I think a lot of us would have liked to have had better individual results,” Michael Treis said. “We never want to peak too early, but I think all the pieces are in line for us to have a great season.”
On the first day of competition, freshmen Max Gordon and Brandon Dechter combined to take the title at No. 3 doubles. Senior Michael Schnarr and junior Scott Butler finished second in the No. 2 position, while seniors Jake Humphreys and Michael Treis took third in the No. 1 spot.
Schnarr and sophomore Grant Thompson led the ’Hawks with second place finished in their respective matches in the final day of competition.
Schnarr placed second at No. 3 singles, only a third-set tiebreaker short of making the championship, while Thompson finished second at No. 2.
“Now we know where we stand,” Treis said. “There stuff that everybody has to work on. We have to play big points better and that’s going to come with more match experience.”