This weekend was a jam-packed weekend for the Men's Tennis team. They started off the weekend with matches against the University of Chicago and Carroll University at Four Lakes Athletic Club on Saturday. Originally both matches were supposed to take place at UWW, but inclement weather forced us inside.
The first match of the weekend was against Chicago. Last year these two teams had a barn burner with UWW pulling out the 5-4 victory. This year there was no love lost between these two teams, and it was just as intense of a match. In doubles Balkin/Baylisa jumped out to an early lead at 2 doubles and never looked back winning 8-3. At 3 doubles McGlashen/Humphreys fell down 2 breaks early. As the match went on they broke time and time again, but they couldn't consolidate the breaks and they lost 5-8. This would mean the match would come down to 1 doubles. The match at 1 was back and forth with neither team taking a hold early. The 'Hawks didn't make their move till they were down 5-6. Shklyar/Osborne held and then broke to give themselves the 7-6 lead. Ben and Mitch then snatched up the opportunity to serve out the match and won 8-6. This gave the Warhawks the lead heading into singles, but Chicago is an extremely strong singles team.
The 'Hawks picked up first set victories at 3-6 singles, and eventually McGlashen and Osborne picked up quick straight sets wins at 3 and 6 respectively. Shklyar and Balkin were the only 'Hawks not to win their first set and even though they fought hard in their second sets they couldn't come up with an answer for their opponents and they fell in straight sets. With those four matches in the books the 'Hawks needed a win from Humphreys or Bayliss at 4 and 5 singles respectively to win the team match. Humphreys had taken the first set and was up a break in the second set before his opponent got the break back, but at 4-4 Jake got another break and he served out a quick game to win the match and secure the match for the 'Hawks. As Jake was finishing his match Bayliss was down in the second and eventually dropped the second set. This would mean Bayliss would head to a third set breaker to determine the winner of his match. The tiebreaker was back and forth until Bayliss took control at 8-8 to win the breaker 10-8. This finished off a great 6-3 win for the 'Hawks.
After a great match against Chicago the 'Hawks turned their attention to Carroll University. In the Chicago match Ben Shklyar suffered a hand injury and had to sit out the match. Without Ben McGlashen/Bayliss stepped up to 1 doubles and didn't disappoint. They played one of their best doubles matches all year to get an 8-1 victory. Balkin/Humphreys teamed up for their first time ever at 2 doubles, and didn't disappoint as well getting an 8-2 victory. Friend/Laktash teamed up at 3 doubles to win 8-5.
In singles the 'Hawks sat some players to get some of the younger players some good match experience. Klein, Laktash, Bisbee, and Schnarr all stepped up to get great straight set wins at 3, 4, 5, and 6 singles. These 4 'Hawks dropped a total of 10 games in their matches. Mitch Osborne stepped up to win 6-0, 6-0 as well at 2 singles. Byron Balkin didn't have such an easy match though at 1 singles. His opponent, Jack Michael, is a great player in the region and he was giving Byron a run for his money. Byron took the first set 6-2 before his opponent took the second by the same score. Again the match would come down to a third set tiebreaker. Byron again played well on the big points saving a match point at 8-9 before he won the breaker 11-9.
To see complete results from the Chicago and Carroll matches click here
After two great matches on Saturday the 'Hawks made the three and a half hour trip on Sunday morning to take on Luther College. Again Shklyar was out with his injury so McGlashen/Bayliss stepped up at 1 doubles and Balkin/Humphreys teamed up again at 2 doubles. Mitch Osborne and Kevin Friend teamed up at 3 doubles. at 2 and 3 doubles the 'Hawks jumped out to early leads. Their opponents made runs late in the match to make things tight, but the 'Hawks pulled out victories. At 1 doubles it was a back and forth affair. The 'Hawks were up a break twice at 7-6 and 8-7, but they couldn't consolidate the breaks, and the match went to a tiebreaker. In the breaker Luther ran away early leading, but McGlashen/Bayliss kept fighting and eventually they saved 6 match points. After the teams were tied at 6-6 they traded points, and both teams had match point after match point. It wasn't until the 'Hawks won the 10-9 point that a team converted a match point.
With the great comeback at 1 doubles the 'Hawks had a lot of energy heading into singles. Since Shklyar was out everyone jumped up one spot in the line-up and Klein got the opportunity at 6 singles. At 2 through 6 singles the 'Hawks got straight set victories including strong victories at 2, 3, and 5 from McGlashen, Humphreys, and Osborne respectively. At 1 singles Balkin struggled early with his opponent losing the first set 2-6, and he was down 1-4 in the second before making a comeback to get the match to 3-4. Both players traded holds, and then his opponent closed out the match winning 6-2, 6-4. This finished the 8-1 victory for the 'Hawks and it gave them their second 3 match win streak of the season.
To see complete scores from the Luther match click here
Overall it was a great weekend for the 'Hawks. This season hasn't been easy so far, and to see the guys perform the way they did this weekend gives us a little confidence moving forward. Up next for the 'Hawks are two matches against Lake Forest and Dubuque University on Sunday April 14th at UWW.
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