Northern Illinois Match

Last Friday, Jan 27th the Warhawk Men's Tennis team traveled to the Boylan Tennis Center in Rockford, IL to take on the Northern Illinois University Huskies. It's always great when we are able to play D-I competition, and they guys were excited for the match. In doubles the Huskies jumped out to an early lead in 2 and 3 doubles, and our players were a little slow getting out of the gate. At 1 doubles UWW was fighting hard with NIU, but as the match progressed Byron Balkin and Mitch Osborne began to pull away. Balkin and Osborne really showed off their great doubles skills that earned them a spot in the D-III individual national championships last year. Spurred by the terrific play at 1 doubles the Warhawks made the 2 and 3 doubles matches a little tighter, but fell in the end. After doubles the Warhawks trailed the Huskies 1-0 due to D-I rules. Singles wouldn't be any easier. Again the Huskies jumped out to early leads in all the singles matches and did not relinquish control. After the match the team was disappointed in the 0-7 loss, but I think they learned from this loss and I expect them to come out ready to go next match. Here are some pictures from play Friday.

In all the matches Friday except for one the Warhawks faced an international adversary. We have been able to accomplish a lot in these past few years, and we are proud to do it with a majority of local talent. That is something that is not commonly seen at the D-I level.

Many parents and fans showed up to watch the matches including the Women's team. This is one of my favorite things about being associated with the tennis teams here at Whitewater, we have awesome fans and they always support us. A special thanks to everyone who came to the matches.

After the match the team headed over to the Fitzgerald's house. Kelsey Fitzgerald is a sophomore on our Women's Tennis Team from Rockford. Her parents were kind enough to host a team spaghetti dinner with some of the best tiramisu I've ever had. Thanks again to the Fitzgeralds for having us over.

The Warhawks are off this week, but they return to action Friday February 10th.