By Kalie Sohmieding
Sept. 30, 2015
The UW-Whitewater women’s tennis team set school records over the weekend at the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Region Championships at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.
Junior Megan Humphreys and a doubles pair of sophomores Alicia Beck and Jillian Wallace all claimed titles.
“It is the best we’ve ever done in school history,” head coach Frank Barnes said. “Having an all-Whitewater singles final and an all-Whitewater doubles final is pretty incredible. It’s pretty rare that one school does something like that with over 20 schools there and about 150 [students] in the tournament.”
This was Humphrey’s third-consecutive appearance in the USTA/ITA Small College National Championships in singles. She won a three-set match over Michaela Schulz of Gustavus Adolphus. Humphreys then won a straight set against freshman Gabi Kitchell.
“Since I’ve been around, I’ve never heard of anyone winning the singles panel three years in a row, and that’s what Megan Humphreys accomplished by herself,” Barnes said.
In the all-Whitewater doubles final, Beck and Wallace defeated Humphreys and sophomore Bridgid McGuire. Beck and Wallace claimed the third set in a super tiebreaker.
This will be Beck’s second trip to the national championships. She qualified with McGuire in 2014.
“Just to have all Whitewater finals in singles and doubles says a lot about our team and how well we compete,” Humphreys said. “We obviously all had a great tournament, and we were supporting each other from the beginning so it was really awesome to see how successful we were in the tournament.”
In singles, Beck, senior Ashley Miller and junior Rachel Siemon fell in the round of 64. Beck was defeated by Shelby Henderson of St. Thomas. Miller fell to Julie Thome of Cornell and Siemon fell to Bridget Bellissimo of UW-La Crosse.
McGuire, Wallace and sophomore Alexandra Talyansky made it to the round of 16. McGuire was defeated by Lisa Hall of St. Olaf. Wallace fell to Bridget Noack of St. Thomas. Talyansky fell to Schulz.
In doubles, Miller and Siemon made it to the round of 64. The pair was defeated by Caitlin Bakke and Jenna Zimmerman of St. Thomas.
Talyansky and Kitchell were defeated in the round of 32. The pair fell to Kinzee Salo and Angie Lorenzen of St. Katherine.
“We want to keep this momentum going for the spring,” Barnes said. “We have a pretty long spring season as well. Our goal is to improve on last year’s performance.”
Humphreys, Beck and Wallace will be competing in the Small College National Championship on Oct. 15 to 17 in Sumter, South Carolina.
“I’m just beyond proud of us,” Humphreys said. “We all fought to death and we all had really close battles to get to the next round. Everyone played with their whole heart and it’s nice having your team on the sideline always cheering you on. We are all very supportive of each other and wanted everyone to succeed so bad. I think it really paid off.”
and Wallace defeated Humphreys and sophomore Bridgid McGuire. Beck and Wallace claimed the third set in a super tiebreaker.
This will be Beck’s second trip to the national championships. She qualified with McGuire in 2014.
“Just to have [a] all Whitewater finals in singles and doubles says a lot about our team and how well we compete,” Humphreys said. “We obviously all had a great tournament and we were supporting each other from the beginning so it was really awesome to see how successful we were in the tournament.”
In singles Beck, senior Ashley Miller and junior Rachel Siemon fell in the round of 64. Beck was defeated by Shelby Henderson of St. Thomas. Miller fell to Julie Thome of Cornell and Siemon fell to Bridget Bellissimo of UW-La Crosse.
McGuire, Wallace and sophomore Alexandra Talyansky made it to the round of 16. McGuire was defeated by Lisa Hall of St. Olaf. Wallace fell to Bridget Noack of St. Thomas. Talyansky fell to Schulz.
In doubles Miller and Siemon made it to the round of 64. The pair was defeated by Caitlin Bakke and Jenna Zimmerman of St. Thomas.
Talyansky and Kitchell were defeated in the round of 32. The pair fell to Kinzee Salo and Angie Lorenzen of St. Katherine.
“We want to keep this momentum going for the spring,” Barnes said. We have a pretty long spring season as well. Our goal is to improve on last year’s performance.”
Humphreys, Beck and Wallace will be competing in the Small College National Championship on Oct. 15-17 in Sumter, South Carolina.
“I’m just beyond proud of us,” Humphreys said. “We all fought to death and we all had really close battles to get to the next round. Everyone played with their whole heart and it’s nice having your team on the sideline always cheering you on. We are all very supportive of each other and wanted everyone to succeed so bad. I think it really paid off.”
