Women's Tennis Clinches 5th Consecutive Bid to NCAA Team Tournament

This weekend the Warhawk Women's Tennis team won the WIAC Final Four Automatic Qualifier. For those of you who don't know the way the Automatic Qualifier works, the top 4 teams from the conference tournament meet at the conference champion's school (UW-Whitewater) to play for the chance to represent the WIAC in the NCAA tournament.

The first match of the day saw the 1 seed, UW-Whitewater, take on the 4 seed, UW-La Crosse. UW-Whitewater played a tight match at 3 doubles, but Megan Kasten and Lauren Aguilar emerged victorious 9-7. 2 doubles was not so kind to the Lady 'Hawks as they feel down early and couldn't get it back eventually falling 9-7. 1 doubles played great for the Lady 'Hawks and won easily 8-1. After doubles the Lady 'Hawks led 2-1. Since the Lady 'Hawks had been moved indoors due to weather the matches were only being played to decision. First on for the Lady 'Hawks was Jackie Vitale at 6 singles, Megan Kasten at 5 singles, and Alexandra Bayliss at 4 singles. Jackie was the first one off winning 6-0, 6-1. Megan Kasten followed winning 6-0, 6-3, and Alexandra clinched the victory with her win at 4 singles 6-0, 6-3. Annie Smith was up 6-1, 4-1 when her match was pulled off. Sydney Divelbiss led at 2 singles and Kalla Schaefer led at 1 singles when their matches were pulled off as well. This clinched the 5-1 victory for the Lady 'Hawks and next up for them was UW-Eau Claire who had won their first match against UW-Oshkosh.

The Lady 'Hawks wasted no time in doubles against UW-Eau Claire.All 3 doubles teams jumped out to early leads with 1 doubles winning 8-3, 2 doubles winning 8-2, and 3 doubles winning 8-0. This time the first Lady 'Hawks out on the court Kalla Schaefer, Sydney Divelbiss, and Annie Smith playing 1, 2, and 3 singles respectively. Because the ladies were up 3-0 after doubles, and the match was being played to decision the ladies only needed to win 2 of the 6 remaining matches to win. Kalla Schaefer won 6-1, 6-1 at won, and eventually Sydney Divelbiss pulled out the 6-4, 6-1 victory at 2 singles. With the score being 5-0 the Lady 'Hawks had already won the match, but they played out 3 singles which went into a third set tiebreaker, and Annie Smith pulled it out 10-5 to make the final score 6-0 for the 'Hawks. This was a great match for the Lady 'Hawks who now get ready to compete in the NCAA tournament.

The game ball winner for the week was Jacqueline Vitale. Coach Barnes had this to say about all the performances this weekend "For the women, there were so many great performances clinching the final four this past weekend, but there was one performance in particular that stuck out in my mind.  Jackie Vitale’s dominating presence in her singles match against La Crosse was simply impressive.  She showed a wide range of weapons from her powerful serve and forehand to her ability to finish at the net.  Her hard work is paying off, and it’s great to see the strides that she has made this season". Be on the lookout for our game ball interview with Jackie coming later this week.

Men's Tennis' Trip to Iowa

This weekend the men's tennis team headed to Iowa to play in match against The University of Dubuque, Cornell College, and Coe College.

First up for the 'Hawks on Saturday was The University of Dubuque. Dubuque has a strong team and their number 1 singles player defeat Byron Balkin in last years ITA finals, so it was going to be a difficult match. The Warhawks played well out of the gate especially at 2 and 3 doubles where they recorded 8-1 and 8-3 victories respectively. 1 doubles was slightly tougher, but they got the break late in the match to secure the 8-5 win. At the start of singles it was obvious Dubuque was going to give the Warhawks their best effort. At 1 singles Balkin went down a break early only to get it back later in the set. After getting back the break it was a tight serving match until Balkin broke at 6-5 to win the set.On the other courts the Warhawks were playing extremely well and didn't drop more than 2 games in any first set. After the tight first set at 1 singles Balkin opened up the match to win 6-1 in the second set. 2 through 6 singles continued their great play to give the Warhawks the 9-0 win.

Mere minutes after the Dubuque match ended the Warhawks started their second match vs. Cornell College. Cornell was a very similar team to Dubuque and not a team the Warhawks could overlook.Balkin and Osborne sat out for doubles in this match, but our 2 doubles team of Andy McGlashen and Andrew Bayliss really stepped up to win against a tough 1 doubles team. At 2 Erik Scanlan and Kevin Friend played well to secure the victory, and at 3 Cam Laktash and Brain Klein returned well to win 8-2. The Warhawks continued their great play again in singles, but this time so other 'Hawks stepped up to lead the way. Most notably were Brian Klein, RJ Rademacher and Cam Laktash who stepped in at 4, 5, and 6 to play great matches. We also can't forget about Byron Balkin, Andrew Bayliss, and Andy McGlashen who didn't drop a set to tough opponents. With such strong play in singles and doubles the 'Hawks were able to close out a strong 9-0 victory.

After playing Dubuque and Cornell the Warhawks traveled to Coe College in Cedar Rapids to take on the Kohawks. Our matches with Coe in the past have been tight and this one looked early on like it was heading that direction.1 doubles secured a quick victory for the Warhawks at 1 singles, but 2 and 3 singles were a different story. After going up 3-0 to start the match at 2 doubles the Warhawks found themselves trading service holds with their opponents. At 3 singles the Warhawks went down a break at 3-5, and even though they fought and played great the rest of the match they weren't able to get the break back the final score was 5-8. As I mentioned before 2 doubles was in a battle. At 7-6 they had a few match points, but just couldn't pull it out. Eventually the match went into a tiebreaker. Both teams were cheering their teammates on, and it was very tense. At 3-2 in the tiebreaker Andy and Andrew were returning and Andrew rocketed a return down the line for a winner and the helped give the 'Hawks the momentum. After that they were able to close out the tiebreaker 7-4. The 'Hawks went into singles with the 2-1 lead.

At 1 singles Byron Balkin went up an early break in his first set, but was unable to close and lost the first set 6-7(7). At 2 singles Andrew Bayliss won the first set 6-2, and at 3 singles Andy McGlashen played great to win the first set 6-2. On the fourth court Mitch Osborne was in a dog fight in the first set, but pulled through when he needed it to win 6-3. Andy McGlashen was the first match off as he took the second set 6-3, and eventually Balkin ended up falling 7-5 in his second set. At that point the 'Hawks lead 3-2, but Coe was coming back and had won the second set at 2 and 4 singles. At this point 5 and 6 singles were starting and the match was getting tight. In the third set at 4 singles Osborne found himself down 2-4 in the third set, but turned it on to win the final set 6-4. Bayliss was less fortunate at 2 singles as he lost his third set 3-6. This meant that the 'Hawks lead the match 4-3 and it would come down to either Senior Erik Scanlan or Brady Porter to win the match for the 'Hawks. Scanlan ran into a tough opponent at 5 singles who was passing lights out to win 6-3, 6-1. At 6 singles Brady Porter came up against a backboard who didn't miss the whole day (or at least that's what it seemed like). After a tough first set with Brady falling 5-7 he fought as hard as he could in the second, but his opponent was just not going to lose. In the end Brady lost 5-7, 2-6. The final match score was Coe 5 UWW 4. It certainly was a big upset and tough loss, but I think the guys will comeback ready to work, and get ready for a hopefully bid to the team NCAA tournament.

Our gameball winner for the week was Andy McGlashen. Andy went 6-0 in singles and doubles this week. Coach Barnes said that “Andy’s recent play made him the deserving choice for the game ball this week.  For the third consecutive big weekend he went undefeated in singles and doubles against stiff competition.  Against Coe College his confidence level was very high, and translated into solid movement and net play to earned him key wins against one of our yearly rivals”. Keep an eye out later this week for Andy's game ball interview.

Two Lady 'Hawks Recieve Academic Award

Yesterday, Warhawk sophomores  Kelsey Fitzgerald and Hillary Franzen were honored by the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as recipients of the the Joseph and Madeline Chopp Scholarship for their excellent academic achievements.  Kelsey and Hillary both have a grade point average of 3.94. Congratulations Kelsey and Hillary!

Photos from Women's Match vs. Concordia University (WI)

UWW Women vs. Concordia University (WI)

Yesterday the UWW Women's Tennis Team played Concordia University (WI). This match was a great opportunity for some of our bench players to get in and get some real match experience.

In doubles we mixed up some of the teams to allow everyone to play either singles or doubles. At 1 doubles Sydney Divelbiss and Alexandra Bayliss teamed up to take down their opponents 8-1. At 2 doubles Kelly Foster and Lauren Aguilar teamed up to defeat their opponents 8-2. At 3 doubles Jessica Vitale teamed up with Hilary Franzen and together they won their match 8-4.

After taking a 3-0 lead after doubles the Lady 'Hawks looked to continue their great play in singles. Annie Smith, Jackie Vitale, Abby Day, and Kelsey Fitzgerald at 2, 4, 5, and 6 singles respectively all won their matches 6-0, 6-0. Meanwhile at 1 singles Kalla Schaefer won 6-1, 6-0, and at 3 singles Megan Kasten won 6-2, 6-0.

Overall it was a great effort by the Lady 'Hawks. One of the things that impresses me the most is how many of the players who don't normally get the chance to play in the line-up like Kelly Foster, Hillary Franzen, Jessica Vitale, Abby Day, and Kelsey Fitzgerald stepped up and performed wonderfully when they were given the chance. That really is a sign of how much work they've put into getting better, and at the end of the day it helps to make our whole team better. Next up for the Lady 'Hawks is the WIAC Final Four Automatic Qualifier this Saturday 4/28. The first match will start at 12:00pm against UW-La Crosse. Win or Lose the Lady 'Hawks will play their next match at 3:00pm, all matches are going to be played at the UWW Outdoor Courts.

Lauren Aguilar Bag Check

Check out Warhawk Junior Lauren Aguilar's (Gurnee, IL) bag check

Game Ball Winner for the Men's WIAC Final Four

This weekend the Warhawk Men wrapped up their 7th WIAC Final Four title in the last 8 years. One Warhawk's performance stood out from the rest, Andrew Bayliss. Bayliss went 6-0 on the weekend to help the 'Hawks secure the title. Because of his stellar play Andrew Bayliss has been awarded the Game Ball for this weekend. I sat down with Andrew to talk to him about the performance.

WIAC Men's Final Four

This weekend the Men's Tennis team headed up to Oshkosh, WI to play in the WIAC Final Four. UW-Whitewater has won 6 of the previous 7 Final Fours, and they players were hoping to make it 7 out of 8.

First up for the 'Hawks was UW-Oshkosh. It was a cold and windy day, but that is not something new for anyone who has played spring tennis in Wisconsin. Luckily, we preach to our team to embrace the elements and that is certainly what they did. In doubles, Whitewater jumped out to an early lead at 2 doubles and never gave it up winning 8-2. 3 doubles went down an early break 0-1 before winning the next 8 games. At 1 doubles the 'Hawks played well enough to give them the 7-4 lead, and a few match points, but UW-Oshkosh's number 1 doubles team was just too tough when it matter the most and they ended up coming back to win the doubles match 9-7.

At the start of singles it was obvious the Warhawks were not phased by the elements. 2 through 5 singles played extremely well, and no one dropped more than 4 games in a match. 1 and 6 singles were tough matches though. Brady Porter was up against a tough opponent who was pushing him to the limit, but his drive and toughness helped him come out the victor in this match 7-5, 7-5. At 1 singles Byron Balkin was playing a tough opponent who played well throughout the match and defeated him 6-3, 6-3. This brought the final score of the match to a 7-2 decision in favor of the Warhawks. While we were happy about the win, but we knew we had take care of business in our two matches the next day.

For individual match scores from the UW-Oshkosh match click here

First up on the schedule Saturday was UW-La Crosse. When doubles started out the Warhawks jumped out to early leads on all 3 courts. Court 2 was the first to finish winning 8-3. On court 1 UW-La Crosse's team climbed back from their early deficit and both teams were neck and neck fighting for each game. At 3 doubles the 'Hawks saw a 6-1 lead diminish to a 6-5 lead. It was at that point that Scanlan and Friend pulled it together, and played great doubles the last 3 games to close out the match 8-5. 1 doubles was still in a dogfight, but they eventually pulled out the match 9-7. The 'Hawks then showed off some strong singles play sweeping 1 through 6 singles from La Crosse. Some of the highlights included a 6-2, 6-3 victory from RJ Rademacher at 6 singles, and Byron Balkin at 1 singles who fought back from 2-5 deficit in the second set (after winning the first 6-4) to win the set in a tiebreaker 7-6(8-6). This match capped off a 9-0 win for the 'Hawks. All that stood in the way of a WIAC Final Four Title was UW-Eau Claire.

Our matches with UW-Eau Claire in the past have always been tight, and we weren't expecting anything different from this one. When doubles started again 2 doubles broke out to an early lead and sealed the match quickly 8-1. Soon after 3 doubles using stellar net play took their match 8-3. At that point all eyes turned to 1 doubles, who had gone down a break early but had fought their way back into the match. This match was like all the other matches 1 doubles had played all weekend, tight until the last point. Each team was jockeying for position, and finally the team from Eau Claire won the match in a tiebreaker. While Byron and Mitch were disappointed by that loss they knew it was time to move past it and play singles.

In singles the Warhawks took the first set at 1 through 4 singles, but fell in close tiebreakers at 5 and 6 singles. Andrew McGlashen was the first Warhawk off the court after his strong 6-1, 6-2 victory at 3 singles. This made the match score 3-1. Shortly after Andrew Bayliss won at 2 to make the match score 4-1. Around this time Balkin was trailing in his second set at 1 singles, Osborne was up a set and a break at 4 singles, and Scanlan and Porter were making runs in their second sets at 5 and 6 singles. Balkin ended up dropping his second at 1 singles, but Scanlan and Porter won their 2nd sets at 5 and 6. With the match score being 4-1 it looked like they would play out a third set to decide each match, but then Mitch Osborne ended up clinching the victory for the 'Hawks with a 6-3, 6-4 win at 4 singles. This would mean that 1, 5, and 6 singles would be decided in third set super breakers. Balkin ended up being able to pull out his super breaker out 10-7, but Scanlan and Porter both fell in theirs. This closed out the 6-3 victory for the 'Hawks and it meant that they would win their 7th WIAC Final Four in the last 8 years.

For individual match scores from the UW-La Crosse and UW- Eau Claire matches click here

Overall it was a great weekend for the Men's team. We have had some great victories recently and to back them up by beating some 3 good teams speaks volumes. Overall I am very pleased with how this team continues to develop both on and off the court. They have really come together, and they do a great job of supporting each other. Up next for the Men's team is an Iowa trip next weekend where the teams will play the University of Dubuque and Cornell College on Saturday and Coe College on Sunday. Go "Hawks!

Here are some pictures from this weekend's matches:

Illinois Wesleyan

Last Monday the Men's Tennis team was supposed to travel down to Bloomington, IL to play Illinois Wesleyan University. Unfortunately, the weather was horrible with wind gusts up past 30mph, so the coaches decided to reschedule the match for the next day. Because of this rescheduling the Warhawks were without their number 1 and 6 singles players, Byron Balkin and Brady porter respectively. This would mean that several players would have to step up in their absence.

In doubles because of Balkin's absence the normal 2 doubles team of Andrew Bayliss and Andy McGlashen stepped up to play a tough 1 doubles team from Illinois Wesleyan. Mitch Osborne (Byron's normal partner) teamed up with Cam Laktash at 2 doubles, and Erik Scanlan and Kevin Friend played 3 doubles. 2 and 3 doubles played well from the start each getting quick victories. 1 doubles though was a different story. The team from Illinois Wesleyan took advantage of Bayliss and McGlashen uncharacteristically weak returns, and won the match 8-4. This meant the 'Hawks would lead 2-1 heading into singles.

In singles the Hawks won the first set at 3-6 singles. 1 and 2 singles dropped close first sets. Bayliss would end up rallying to win his second set at 1 singles 6-1, but McGlashen was not as lucky and he fell 6-7(6), 4-6. Osborne, Scanlan, and Klein all stepped up and played well at 3, 4, and 6 singles respectively. In fact none of them lost more than 3 games in their match. After winning the first set at 5 singles Rademacher lost the second in a close breaker. This meant that 1 and 5 singles would be decided in super breakers. Bayliss continued his strong play in his tiebreaker to take it 10-3. Rademacher's super breaker was not as easy. His opponent presented a tough match up for RJ, and he whenever he seemed out the match he clawed his way back in. Rademacher was too tough in the end though and won the super breaker 10-8. This sealed the 7-2 win for the 'Hawks.

For individual match scores click here

Here are some pictures from the matches:

Cam Laktash Bag Check

Check out Warhawk Freshman Cam Laktash's (Crystal Lake, IL) bag check.

Men's and Women's Senior Day Matches

Yesterday the Men's and Women's tennis teams honored their Senior's in between matches with Carroll College and Elmhurst College.

Due to the possibility of inclement weather the Warhawks started out playing single against Carroll College. The Women swept singles including a great win at 6 singles by Kelly Foster 6-3, 6-1. On the Men's side against Carroll the matches were tough and the Warhawks took 5 of the 6 singles matches. The only Warhawk to fall in singles was Andrew Bayliss who lost to an extremely consistent opponent from Carroll. The Men's and Women's teams continued their winning ways in doubles as well. Both teams swept all of their doubles matches. The highlights of doubles were Kelsey Fitzgerald and Jesse Vitale winning at 3 doubles for the women, and Cam Laktash and Brian Klein winning at 3 doubles for the men. The final score for the Women was 9-0 and 8-1 for the Men.

After the Carroll match the Warhawk teams honored their seniors for 4 years of tremendous work, and helping to build the program to the level it is at today. Our seniors on the Women's side included Crystal Zhao, Marta Kinsman, Annie Smith, and Kalla Schaefer. On the Men's side the seniors were Erik Scanlan and Brady Porter.

After the Senior Day Festivities the Warhawks prepared to play Elmhurst, but due to some weather the Men were pushed inside to Janesville Athletic Club. The Women however decided to brave the elements and after a short time the courts were dry. Again we started with singles because the weather did not look like it was going to cooperate for too long. The Lady 'Hawks sweep singles against Elmhurst as well including a great win by Abby Day at 6 singles. Right after all the matches got done the rain started again. At this point the Lady 'Hawks were up 6-0 and since the match was decided we called off the doubles.

At Janesville Athletic Club the men were invovled in a tight match. After doubles the 'Hawks lead 2-1. The only loss for the 'Hawks came at 2 doubles where Elmhurst won 8-3. After that the Warhawks played tremendously well in singles giving up no more than 4 games in any set to an extremely talented team. Without dropping a set the Warhawks swept singles to win the match 8-1.

These were great matches for both teams against dangerous teams. Next up for the Men's team is a match against Illinois Weslyan tomorrow 4/17. The next match for the Women is against Concordia University of Wisconsin on 4/23. Come out to support the 'Hawks.

Men's Match vs. Gustavus

This weekend the UWW Men's Tennis team traveled to Pleasant Valley Tennis and Fitness Center to take on Gustavus Adolphus College. This marks the first time the 'Hawks played Gustavus outside of St. Peter, MN and the gentlemen were excited about the opprotunity.

In doubles The 'Hawks jumped out to a big lead at 2 doubles, and Gustavus did the same at 3. 1 doubles was more of a heated match with both teams staying close until Whitewater broke open the match at 4-4. Around the time 1 doubles was starting to pull away 3 doubles fell 8-3. 1 doubles did not allow their Gustavus counterparts to win another game, and won the match 8-4. On the number 2 doubles court after being up 6-1 Andy McGlashen and Andrew Bayliss saw their opponents win 6 of the next 7 games. The Gusties were not going to go away easy and after trading service holds 2 doubles went into a deciding tiebreaker. The tension in the building was strong as both teams knew whoever would take that match would have momentum heading into singles. As the tiebreaker went on the stress continued to mount until UWW took the match 9-8(6). This meant that the Warhawks would head into singles with the momentum and a 2-1 lead. However we knew that Gustavus would not go away that easy.

As singles started it was obvious that the players from Gustavus were not going to just lay down and give up. Byron Balkin, Andy McGlashen, and Mitch Osborne at 1, 3, and 4 respectively all took leads early in their first sets, and did not relinquish them. At 2 singles Andrew Bayliss was involved in a tight first set, but ended up falling in a tiebreaker. Erik Scanlan at 5 found himself in a tough situation as his opponent took the first set clicking on all cylinders. At 6 singles Brady Porter started out slow, but was working his way in the match. After losing the first set he was confident of his chances in the second.

As the second sets started to unfold Whitewater held on to leads at 1, 3, and 4 singles. Scanlan's opponent was just too tough and took him down 1-6, 2-6. To make the overall match 2-2. Shortly after Balkin secured a huge win over his opponent from Gustavus to make the match score 3-2. At this time Bayliss was down a break in the second set, and Porter at 6 was in a dog fight. All eyes turned to McGlashen who was up a set and serving for the match at 6-5. Unfortunately his opponent was extremely mentally tough, and forced the set into a breaker. Andy played well, but couldn't come up with the goods. His match would head to a deciding third set. Around this time Mitch won his match, and made the overall match score 4-2. This would mean the Warhawks needed one more match to secure the first win over Gustavus in program history. Porter fought hard, but fell in a second set tiebreaker. Around the same time Bayliss' match was coming to a close, and he lost in a close second set. This meant the match was tied 4-4, and the winner of the 3 singles match would win the team match. Around the time all the other matches were done McGlashen was up 5-3 in the third and had 3 match points. After a few shaky service points he found himself back at deuce. After trading points back and forth Andy won the last two points to secure the match win for the 'Hawks. After his match had completed he threw his racket up in the air almost 40ft.

It was a great match from both teams, and I think ours guys will use this as an example of what we can accomplish if we continue to work hard, and try to get better everyday. Here are some pictures from the match:

Photos from Women's Midwest Invite

Here are some photos from the Midwest Invite