Warhawk Men take on Carthage

This Friday the Warhawk Men's Tennis Team took on Carthage College at Four Lake Athletic Club in Elkhorn, WI.  The 'Hawks and the Carthage have had good matches in the past, and the guys were ready for this one. 

At 1 doubles Carthage feautred a tough team, but Osborne and Shklyar came out playing on fire. They jumped out to an early break lead and never looked back winning 8-3. With Balkin/Bayliss sitting out of doubles McGlashen/Humphreys got the opportunity to jump up to 2 doubles, and they made the most of the opportunity winning 8-2 against two big servers. Klein/Friend played the 3 spot, and after struggling early they found their stride and won 8-4.

In singles, Shklyar notched a good victory at 1 by defeating a tough lefty. At one point in the first set Shklyar was down 2-5 before he came back to win the set 7-6(0). Balkin played a familiar opponent from his high school days, and came away with a tough 6-1, 7-5 win. Andrew Bayliss played a tough opponent but pulled out another tough 6-1, 7-5 win at 3 singles. Cam Laktash and Matt Bisbee both dominated from the start at 4 and 5 singles respectively. With players sitting out for singles Michael Schnarr got the opportunity at 6 singles. After a great first set winning 6-2, his opponent turned up his level of play and forced the match to a third set breaker. Michael regained his composure though to win the tiebreaker 10-7.

For full scores from the Carthage match click here

On Friday the Men's and Women's Team will head to California for their Spring Break Trip. I'll be there along the way keeping everyone updated on what's happening.

Photos from the Women's Matches Against Augustana and UW-Milwaukee

Here are some photos from the ladies recent matches against Augustana and UW-Milwaukee on 3/9. Thanks to Liz Bayliss for taking them!

Women's Matches against Augustana(IL) and UW-Milwaukee

After returning to collegiate competition last weekend at the ITA Indoor National Championships the UWW Women's Tennis Team took on two opponents closer to home. 

Our first match on Saturday was against an always tough team in Augustana(IL). Augustana is currently ranked #20 in the Central Region and their #1 singles player is currently ranked #5, so there was a lot on the line for the Lady 'Hawks. In doubles the Lady 'Hawks made some switches in the doubles line-up, and our matches against Augustana showed that these three teams are going to be tough outs. At 1 doubles Alexandra Bayliss and Jackie Vitale teamed up for their first collegiate competition together and beat a tough team 8-5. Sydney Divelbiss and Lauren Aguilar played great from the start at 2 doubles winning 8-1, and the 3 doubles team of Megan Kasten and Erika Williams showed their strength winning 8-4. The Lady 'Hawks strong play did not stop after doubles. Lauren Aguilar notched the first singles victory of the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win at 5 singles. Soon Megan Kasten and Alexandra Bayliss added victories at 4 and 2 singles respectively. Kelly Foster picked up a strong 6-2, 6-2 victory as well at 6 singles. Jackie Vitale was even with her opponent early on, but pulled away to earn a 6-4, 6-1 victory at 3 singles. Sydney Divelbiss was the last player on court at 1 singles and her and her opponent were having some epic points. I would have to say (I didn't keep any statistics) that the average number of hits in each point was 15+. After winning a tight first set 6-4 Sydney began to pull away, and she held a 5-1 lead before her opponent started to gain a little momentum. Unfortunately though for her opponent it was too little too late, and Sydney pulled out the 6-4, 6-2 victory.

No more than 5 seconds after Sydney's match was over all the ladies and I jumped in our vans and began the hour journey to play UW-Milwaukee. We knew it would be a tough match against Milwaukee. They beat the Lady 'Hawks last year 6-1 and they have only gotten better since then, but our girls were up for the challenge. At the beginning of doubles it was apparent how strong of a team Milwaukee was. Their girls were crossing on everything, and it was difficult for our girls to get any rhythm. 1 doubles struggled early and their opponents capitalized winning 8-1. At 2 doubles Sydney Divelbiss and Lauren Aguilar struggled early going down 0-3, but they found some rhythm, and after being down 2-7 they brought the match back to 5-7 before falling 5-8. Megan Kasten and Erika Williams were in a similar situation at 3 doubles. They too struggled early on going down 0-3, but their play eventually picked up. Even though they lost 8-3 the later games in the match were tight but they just couldn't find a way to win the big points. After doubles the women were down, but they were determined to still give their best effort in singles.

At 1 singles Sydney Divelbiss ran into a tough opponent. Syd was playing well early in the points, but her opponent had too much offense and eventually she found a ball to hit a winner on. Alexandra played an extremely tough opponent very close and fell 3-6, 4-6 at 2 singles. Jackie played tough through her whole match, but her opponent had too much offense as well and she fell 2-6, 2-6 at 3 singles. Megan Kasten had a tough first set falling 2-6, but she found her groove in the second at one point leading 5-4, but she eventually fell in a tiebreaker 6-7(2). Lauren Aguilar was in the same position at 5 singles, she struggled losing her first set 0-6 but she battled back in the second only to fall 4-6. Kelly Foster played well in her first set falling 3-6, and then her opponent turned up the heat winning 6-0 in the second set. 

To see the results from all the women's matches this weekend click here

On a side note the women went 3-1 in exhibition this weekend with Abby Day and Jess Vitale picking up a win at 4 doubles against Augustana. Kelsey Ftizgerald and Jess Vitale also picked up singles wins against Augustana dropping only 1 game in the 2 matches. 

The ladies have the next weekend off from intercollegiate competition, but they will be at the Alumni Event March 16th at Four Lakes Athletic Club. The women return to action March 24 in California against MIT.

Guest Post from Frank Barnes about the Guy's Matches This Weekend in Minnesota

The UWW men’s team traveled to St. Peter, MN to play quite a bit of tennis this past weekend.  The highlight of the weekend was Saturday night’s match-up of two nationally ranked teams when the Warhawks took on the Gusties of Gustavus Adolphus College. The match took place at their tennis bubble.  In the bubble there was an huge loud crowd, and a thrilling atmosphere. 

During doubles the intensity (from the crowd and players) was at the highest levels an apparent in each match.  At the third line, McGlashen/Humphreys returned very well and were the first match off with an 8-4 win.  At #2 Balkin/Bayliss got down a break, but could not get it back.  Tyler Johnson and big Grant Leisner are a force indoors and were serving very well.  The Hawks could not get the break back, and dropped an 8-5 decision, turning all eyes to court 1 to see which team would take the lead into singles.  At #1 it was a battle of two of the top teams in the region.  Shklyar/Osborne were taking on Donkena/Smith-Dennis, last season’s NCAA championship runner-up team.  The Hawks started off on fire taking a 6-2 double break lead and a chance to serve to go up 7-2.  At that time the Golden Gusties dug in and showed why they are a championship caliber team.  They went on a tear over the next several games breaking twice and holding as needed to force a tiebreak at 8-8.  The Hawks had a handful of match points, but could not convert, mainly due to some tough returning when the Gusties needed it most, but both teams should be commended for their high level play in this match.  The duo suffered a 9-8(4) loss and the team headed into singles trailing 1-2.  I did get the feeling that the team still felt confident that they could win four of the six singles matchups.

The match was played on three courts, so we put on the top three lines.  At #1 Shklyar took on the #3 player in the region in Mya Smith-Dennis, At #2 Balkin took on Donkena who he split with last year in two matches, while McGlashen took on Juan Luis Chu who has had UWW’s number over the past couple of years.  Shklyar came out of the gates swinging and never looked back taking it 6-1, 6-3 in impressive fashion.  Byron and Donkena battled to a first set breaker- each holding serve throughout.  It was a back and forth tiebreak, but at 6-6 Donkena got the minibreak and then the first set.  At that time Andy was also in an intense battle.  He started off playing lights out and was up an early break.  Then Chu dug in and did not give an inch.  It was tough to hurt him and he had solid offense when needed.  He broke back to send the first set to overtime, then took it 7-5.  Chu then broke to open the second set, and never let Andy back in to even it up and eventually won that tight match 7-5, 6-4.  At that time Balkin got broken early in the second set, but at 3-5 he showed his fight and battled to break back to get it back on serve.  It looked like the Balkin/Donkena rivalry was going to go to the next level, but Donkena broke to take the match 7-6(6), 6-4. 

This put the Hawks down 2-4 with the final three singles matches hitting the courts.  We felt our depth could certainly be good enough to win at each of these positions, but we’d need them all to squeak out the win.  At #4 Jake got off to a great start breaking in the first game.  This match featured our smallest player against their 6-5 big man (a little David and Goliath action).  Jake held that early lead until Leisner broke back and then broke again for the set.  Leisner was swinging big and connecting, hitting lines left and right.  He kept it up all match and finished with a 6-4, 6-0 win and sealed the team victory for the Gusties.  At this time, Bayliss was in control of his match over Joey MacGibbon at #5, but Osborne simply had an off night at the wrong time and was defeated by Entwistle at #6.  Bayliss won 6-4, 6-2 playing great fundamental tennis, and Osborne lost 6-0, 6-1 for a final team score of 6-3 in favor of Gustavus. 

Earlier in the weekend we had a chance to get all of our players some great experience.  On Friday night we had a varsity reserve match against Gustavus that we were able to win 6-3.  Again it was an intense atmosphere with many close matches that could have gone either way.   In doubles Bisbee/Worley cruised to an 8-4 win at #2 while Laktash/Friend and Hawksford/Schnarr were in tight battles at #1 ad #3 respectively.  Friend/Laktash played great down the stretch and pulled it out 8-6, while #3 ended up on the wrong end of an 8-6 decision, so we were up 2-1 heading to singles.  Laktash played great controlled offense at #1 and Friend played error free tennis at #6 to get the Hawks out to a 4-1 lead.  Hawksford lost a 6-3, 6-4 decision at #3, while Bisbee forced a third set match tiebreak at #2.  He was down 8-5 but battle back to win 11-9 and give the hawks a 5-2 lead with the two remaining courts in close battles. The crowd was still loud as these two matches wrapped up.  Both matches were on similar courses.  Schnarr and Worley had each lost close first sets but battle back to win second sets  in tiebreaks at the same time.  So they were now each in match tiebreaks for the final tally.  Worley was down 8-3 in his breaker, but battled back to win 5-7, 7-6 (3), 11-9, and Schnarr lost his battle 4-6, 7-6 (0), 10-6.

Prior to the Gustavus match on Saturday night, the Warhawks took on Hamline University. We were able to get a lot of players in the lineup and swept Hamline 9-0.  Highlights of this match were Friend/Balkin reuniting at #2 doubles for an 8-3 win and Laktash/Bisbee stepping in a #3 for an 8-2 win.  In singles the Hawks did not lose a set and in-fact only lost 13 games in total.  Bisbee won 6-0, 6-0 at #6 and Hawksford won 6-1, 6-0 at #6.

For complete scores from the varsity matches this weekend  click here

The intense schedule that we’ve played so far will hopefully pay off soon.  All of the team’s losses have come at the hands of either D-1 teams or top ranked D-3 teams, so we know we can’t get too down, but we need to keep pushing hard.  We are certainly getting better from these experiences, and hopefully will be ready for some big matches down the road. 

This next weekend the men host Carthage at 5pm on Friday night at Four Lakes Athletic Club in Elkhorn, WI.  Then on Saturday both the men and women will host their annual alumni event from 2-7pm at Four Lakes Athletic club.  Just around the corner is our trip to California where both the men and women will have some incredible matches with teams such as Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, MIT, Pomona, and DePauw (among others).  We’ll keep you posted!

GO WARHAWKS!!

Pictures from Women's Indoor Nationals

Here are some pictures from the ladies' recent trip to Greencastle, IN for Indoor Nationals. Thanks to Liz Bayliss for taking them.

Women's ITA Indoor National Championships

This weekend the UWW Women's Tennis Team returned to action for the spring season by traveling down to Greencastle, IN to participate in the ITA Indoor National Championships. This is a huge honor for the Lady 'Hawks to be invited to the tournament. The tournament is by invite only and features some of the top eight teams in the country. This is UWW's first time at Indoor Nationals for either the Men's or Women's program. For the last two weeks the ladies have been practicing to get back into match shape. On Friday night we opened up the tournament by playing the 2nd ranked and number 1 seeded University of Chicago.

As doubles started against Chicago it was clear we weren't showing the same form as when we finished the fall season, but we were still playing well. At 1 doubles we jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but Chicago came roaring back and it was a tight match down the stretch. At 3 doubles it was a back and forth affair the whole time. At 2 doubles Chicago jumped out to an early lead, and while we chipped away we could never make deep enough chips and 2 doubles lost 8-4. 1 and 3 doubles shared similar fates both falling 8-6. Even though the ladies knew it would be a tough mountain to climb and recover from this 0-3 deficit they knew it was possible.

Even though we kept the fight and drive to win alive it was clear Chicago was on top of their game, and it was going to be a difficult road ahead. Some of the singles highlights from the 'Hawks include Alexandra  Bayliss' hard fighting in a 5-7, 4-6 loss at 2 singles, and Lauren Aguilar's tough play in her 4-6, 2-6 loss at 5 singles. 

For individual scores from the University of Chicago match click here

After that loss we were scheduled to play DePauw University the very next morning at 8:30am. So we headed back to the hotel to try and get as much sleep as possible. The next morning at 8:30am it was clear the ladies had put the Chicago loss behind them and they were focused solely on DePauw. As doubles started against DePauw it was clear this was going to be a tough DePauw team. Bayliss/Divelbiss fell behind early at 1 doubles, but they were slowly chipping away at their opponents lead looking for any momentum they could get. Unfourtunately they never found that momentum, and the fell 8-3. At 2 doubles Vitale, Ja./Kasten were playing tough with their opponents the whole time. It was a back and forth match until DePauw finally came out victorious 8-6. At 3 doubles Aguilar/Foster played well, but their opponents were just too good taking the match 8-4. 

Again the Lady 'Hawks faced a 0-3 deficit heading into singles, and again they would need a tremendous singles performance by all 6 players to pull off this comeback. Alexandra Bayliss showed us that it was possible when she took the first set 6-4 at 2 singles. Sydney and Jackie were playing well at 1 and 3 singles, but it wasn't looking good. Alexandra eventually lost the second set and her match entered a third set. The third set was back and forth and was full of suspense, but Alexandra eventually took it 7-5. Though by the time this match had finished the Lady 'Hawks were down 1-5, and a comeback was impossible. Other highlights from singles include Lauren Aguilar who showed a lot of fight in a losing effort at 5 singles. After dropping the first set 1-6 Lauren was down 1-4 in the second set and the outlook wasn't good, but then Lauren made her move she took the next 4 games to get the 5-4 lead. Both players traded holds until they entered a tiebreaker where DePauw came out victorious.

After the loss to DePauw the 'Hawks didn't have much time to regroup. Five hours after the conclusion of the DePauw match the Lady 'Hawks would play the Skidmore in their last match of the tournament. When we started playing at 8:00pm though I'm not sure if any of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. Doubles started off better than any other match for the Lady 'Hawks as Vitale, Ja./Kasten took home a quick 8-4 victory at 2 doubles. Foster/Aguilar struggled to get anything going and fell 8-3. This meant either the Lady 'Hawks would have a 2-1 lead heading into singles or a 1-2 deficit. Bayliss/Divelbiss lead the whole match, but their opponents started gaining confidence toward the end of the match. The teams traded service holds until Skidmore got a break at 7-7 to go up 8-7. From there they finished off the match with a hold to take 1 doubles 9-7, and the 2-1 lead heading into singles. 

Even though the ladies came up short getting the lead after doubles they still felt good heading into singles. As the first 3 singles were getting underway Jackie Vitale raced out to a huge lead at 3 singles, and her opponent had to eventually retire. It was clear watching that match she was starting to regain the form she showed at the end of last semester. 1 and 2 singles were different stories as both players were feeling the effects of 6 high level matches in one weekend. Megan Kasten played well from the start at 4 singles and dominated 6-2, 6-1. Lauren Aguilar and Erika Williams were the last two matches to go on sometime around 12:00am. When both players got on the court we were down 2-4 and with Megan looking good to make it 3-4 they knew it would be up to them to get the match. Both players took their opening sets, but their opponents came back strong in their respective second sets, and both matches went to decisive third sets. Both Lauren and Erika found themselves down at some point in their second sets. Erika at one point was down 1-5 and roared back to force the set into a tiebreaker. Lauren was down 3-4 and came back to force the set into a breaker as well. Unfortunately for the 'Hawks these two tiebreakers had different outcomes. Lauren was victorious in her tiebreak, while Erika's opponent stepped up to hit some timely shots to win her tiebreak. Giving Skidmore the 5-4 win. The match didn't finish till 2:00am, and while we were disappointed about the loss. I can say we were all happy to get back to the hotel and sleep.

For individual match scores from either the DePauw or Skidmore matches click here

Overall, I don't believe this is how we envisioned our ITA Indoor Nationals debut going. It was clear early on we were rusty, but I like the improvement I saw in the team from match to match. they showed by the end that they have the fight they need to be victorious down the stretch, and I can't wait to see what they accomplish.

Erika Williams Bag Check

During some down time I checked in with Freshman Erika Williams to see what she has in her bag check it out!