McHenry's Goebel to Compete for UW-Whitewater Women's Tennis in 2017-18

2017 Aug 28

Brittany Goebel, a native of McHenry, IL, and graduate of McHenry West High School, will play for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's tennis team during the 2017-18 season, which begins this weekend.

Goebel, a senior at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in biology.

Fifteenth-year Head Coach Frank Barnes said he has always prided his program on "Depth and Doubles", and it sounds like the 2017-18 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's tennis team will be no different.

After securing their 10th consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title, their 10th consecutive WIAC Team Tournament Championship and their 10th straight trip to the NCAA Division III Championship last season, Coach Barnes isn't about to let his team become complacent.

With the graduation of Rachel Siemon (Crystal Lake, IL/South) and Megan Humphreys(Kenosha/Tremper), the most decorated player in UW-Whitewater women's tennis history, UW-W does not leave the cupboard bare. The Warhawks return senior All-Americans Bridgid McGuire (Slinger/Slinger)and Jillian Wallace (Crystal Lake, IL/Central), along with fellow senior Alexandra Talyansky(Mequon/Homestead) to the top of the Warhawk lineup. Transfer Julie Martin (Morton, Ill./Morton), a junior who played her first two collegiate seasons at Bradley, is also competing for a top singles spot, while Coach Barnes sees the team competing at the five and six singles flights "by committee". Vying for those spots will be a number of players, including seniors Brittany Goebel (McHenry, IL/West) and Kassie Alexander (Waukesha/South), along with freshmen Paige Nierman (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson) and Sabrina Palavra (Skokie, Ill./Niles North).

Barnes also noted that freshman Allie Miller (Sturtevant, Wis./Union Grove) and sophomore Madeline Slicker (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) are expected to see some playing time.

McGuire has always been a staple in the Warhawks' doubles lineup, but returns to a more regular role in the singles lineup after one year of limited play. During her freshman and sophomore years she racked up 18 wins in singles each season. For her career, McGuire is 40-27 in singles play and 84-22 in doubles, earning All-America honors in each of her first three seasons. McGuire also qualified for doubles play in the NCAA Individual Championships during her sophomore and junior seasons.

Wallace, one of team's captains, is experienced in both singles and doubles totaling records of 71-24 in singles and 87-26 in doubles over the course of her first three seasons. She eclipsed the 30-win mark in doubles during both her freshman and sophomore campaigns and reached the same mark in singles a year ago. Wallace earned All-America honors in doubles as a sophomore.

Talyansky has reached 20 wins in both singles and doubles in each of her first three years. Last season she reached 30 wins in doubles play. Talyansky, a captain along with Wallace, has career totals of 74-24 in singles and 80-16 in doubles.

Goebel and Alexander have each seen their playing time increase since they were freshmen. Goebel has amassed a singles record of 35-19, including 18-12 last season, and a doubles record of 30-15, 19-9 a year ago. Alexander did most of her damage last season as she enters her senior year with a 17-11 singles record and a 12-5 doubles record.

The returners' vast experience speaks to the depth of the program Barnes has built.

The Warhawks have always placed an emphasis on doubles play. Since doubles are played first in most dual matches, Barnes notes, "It's important that our team get out to a 3-0 or 2-1 lead as we head into singles play. That's one reason we have always worked so hard on our doubles."

This season look for McGuire to pair with Wallace at the top of the lineup. Barnes is still searching for the perfect combinations for the other two doubles flights, but expects that Talyansky, Goebel, Alexander, Nierman and Palavra will also be in the hunt for those spots. He added, "I really like the combinations as they are beginning to emerge."

As the Warhawks begin the fall portion of their schedule they host Cornell (Iowa) and Edgewood on September 1 before hosting their annual Warhawk Invite on September 2.

UW-W's 81-match WIAC winning streak will be put to the test Sept. 16 when the Warhawks hit the road for a pair of matches against UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse, two teams that Coach Barnes expects to compete for the league title.

After that, the Warhawks will travel to St. Peter, Minnesota for the ITA Midwest Regional Championships before three more dual matches, two of which are against WIAC foes.

On Oct. 6-7, the Warhawks will host their annual Fall Invite that features seven DI, DII and NAIA scholarship schools from around the Midwest.

UW-W wraps up the fall portion of their season with a pair of conference dual matches on October 14 before heading to Madison on October 21 and 22 for the WIAC Championships.

As always, the spring portion of the Warhawks' schedule is loaded with some heavy hitters from around the region including the University of Chicago, Washington University (Mo.), and Gustavus Adolphus. All three teams are annually national contenders.

"We like to schedule things this way to prepare us for postseason play," Barnes said.