Slinger Native McGuire Named to UW-Whitewater Women's Tennis Roster

2015 Sep 1

Bridgid McGuire, a native of Slinger, WI, and graduate of Slinger High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's tennis team during the 2015-16 season.

McGuire, a sophomore for the Warhawks, is majoring in history.

UW-Whitewater begins the season Wednesday with matches at Cornell (Iowa) and Coe (Iowa).

See below for a season preview of the 2015 Warhawks.

2015 UW-Whitewater Women's Tennis Preview: Veteran Group Seeks Another Title

As a winner of eight straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's tennis team looks to add a ninth straight conference title this upcoming season.

The Warhawks' 2015-16 roster will look very similar to opponents compared to last year's, which was filled with freshmen and first-year players. The team lost only Amanda Dick, who graduated and will now step into a coaching role with the team.

Head Coach Frank Barnes, who enters his 13th season as the coach of the program, expects this more experienced team to make a deep run into the NCAA Division III Tournament and compete for another WIAC championship.

"We have 11 players returning, and six of them have experience from last year's NCAA Tournament," Barnes said, "Last year we had a starting lineup of almost all freshman and sophomores, so we think that experience will be valuable."

UW-Whitewater finished last season with a 24-5 record, falling against DePauw (Ind.) in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the second year in a row that the Warhawks were bounced from the tournament by DePauw. UW-Whitewater reached the Round of 16 for the third time in four seasons to match its best-ever team postseason finish.

Junior Megan Humphreys is the team's top returner and will play at the top singles position. She earned WIAC Player of the Year last season, finishing with a 28-7 record in singles matches. She also posted a 20-11 record in doubles-play, paring with fellow returners Jillian Wallace and Bridgid McGuire.

Wallace, finished the 2014-15 season as the WIAC champion at No. 5 singles. She finished with a 20-11 singles record and led the team with 31 victories in doubles play.

McGuire finished the season tied for 15th in the Central Region in doubles. She was also the conference runner-up at No. 1 singles in 2014-15. McGuire finished the year with a record of 18-11 in singles and a 29-14 mark in doubles play.

Seniors Emily Sodemann and Ashley Miller join Humphreys as captains for this year's team. Sodemann finished last year with a record of 6-3 in singles and 4-3 in doubles play. Miller finished her season with a record of 5-5 in singles and 24-9 in doubles play.

Six other women return to the Warhawks' roster in 2015-16.

Junior Rachel Siemon finished last year with a 17-7 singles record and was fourth on the team in doubles wins with a record of 25-8.

Returning sophomores include Kassie Alexander, Alicia Beck, Brittany Goebel, Gabriella Gregorio and Alexandra Talyansky.

Beck was named to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Team (doubles) for her win at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional. She finished the season with an 18-6 record in singles and finished second on the team with 27 doubles wins.

Talyansky finished the season as the No. 3 singles champion for the WIAC while tying for team high in singles victories with 28. She added a 22-6 record in doubles play.

Alexander finished with a record of 4-1 in singles and a 2-1 record in doubles play. Goebel finished with a 7-1 singles and 4-3 doubles record. Gabriella Gregorio (Roselle, IL/Bartlett) finished the 2014-15 season 2-1 in singles and 3-3 in doubles play.

The Warhawks welcome freshman newcomer Gabi Kitchell, who finished her high school campaign as an all-state player with a third-place finish in singles at Wisconsin's Division 1 state championship tournament.

"Gabi will make an immediate impact, and has an opportunity to help both our singles and doubles lineups," Barnes said.

The Warhawks open the season Wednesday in Iowa against Cornell College and Coe College. The team returns home to host the Warhawk Invite Saturday. UW-Whitewater then heads on the road to face conference rivals UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire before returning home to another tough competition against Wheaton College (Ill.).

"UW-Lacrosse and UW-Eau Claire are always great WIAC competition. Wheaton and some other scholarship schools will be a big test this fall," Barnes said.

The Warhawks will compete in several other key tournaments throughout the fall and into the spring season, including the Warhawk Fall Invite, which features strong competition on Oct. 9-10. UW-Whitewater will then travel to Sumter, S.C., for the ITA Small College National Championships from Oct. 15-17, before returning home for two league matches prior to the WIAC Championship on Oct. 24-25.

Barnes expects an equally challenging schedule in the spring, which the team hopes concludes at the NCAA Tournament.

"In the spring DePauw and Carleton highlight our spring break trip (March 19-24). The Midwest Invite April 1-2), which features the top 12 teams from around the Midwest ,will be a terrific measuring stick," Barnes said.

With the experience the team has coming back, Barnes and his staff believe they can do some great things this upcoming season.

"We now see ourselves as a tested veteran team looking to reach the next level," he said. "(Assistant) Coach (Byron) Balkin and I have been very impressed with the pre-season practices so far. It looks like many of the players worked hard and we expect to have an improved team if they continue to work hard. We've set some goals and it will be interesting to see if we can reach them."

For more information on the Warhawks, visit the team's Web page.