Spring Break Day 6

On the last day of our Spring Break trip the Men's and Women's teams took on a tough regional opponent in DePauw. Both teams were excited for the match and it showed in the way they played. It was some of our best tennis all trip.

Unfortunately DePauw though was no slouch, and they were not going to go away easy. On the Women's side the Warhawks came hot out of the gate in doubles taking 1 and 2 doubles. 3 doubles fought hard the whole way, but unfortunately they couldn't pull out the win. After doubles the Women were up 2-1 heading into singles and they knew all they needed was 3 matches to win. 1 singles was extremely close. Kalla Scahefer lost the first set only to storm back and win the second. While this was happening both Sydney Divelbiss and Annie Smith were down a set and a break in their second set, but they just couldn't get their matches. Smith even held off 5 match points before she lost. Schaefer ended up losing her third set too and this made the overall match score 4-2. Alexandria Bayliss took the court at 4 singles and she knew she needed her match to keep the Warhawks alive. Her DePauw opponent was just too tough, and she lost the match. Kasten played great and won a tough 3 set match at 5 singles. Lauren Aguilar also played well, but unfortunately she lost in a tight 3rd set breaker. The final score for the Women had UWW losing 3-6.

On the Men's side it was a little bit different story. The Warhawks came out playing just as strong in doubles, but DePauw was playing great. 2 and 3 doubles for the Warhawks fell down early breaks. They knew gave up and kept forcing their DePauw opponents to come up with good shot after good shot. They ended up losing and all eyes turned to 1 doubles. That match was back and forth. The Warahwks had a chance to serve for the match and DePauw broke back to give them a ton of energy. Then like clockwork the Warhawks broke back to give them another chance to serve the match out. This time the Warhawks played well to win the match 9-7. This gave the Warhawks hope heading into singles. With the Warhakws down 1-2 the team gathered around, and we all got ready to fight as hard as we could for singles. Balkin played well at 1 singles, but unfortunately his opponent was a backboard and Byron ended up losing. At 2 singles Andrew Bayliss came out of the gate hot to take the first set 6-0. His opponent was not going to go quietly into the night though and made the second set tighter. Bayliss won 7-5 to make the overall match score 3-2. Andy McGlashen was in a dog fight at 3 singles. He was able to take the first set in a breaker, but his opponent stormed back to force a third set. Andy fought hard the whole match through, but his opponent was just too tough. That was when the Warhawks turned to 4, 5, and 6 singles to win the match. Mitch Osborne was in a tough match at 4 singles. Both players played similar styles, and Osborne was victorious in the third set. Scanlan played a very talented player at 5 and lost in straight sets. Brady Porter played tremendously in his first "big" match, and he was able to win in three tight sets making the overall match score 4-5.

The match ended up lasting 6 and 1/2 hours, and was just mentally and physically exhausting. I am really proud of how our team handled the match, and I think it will be a great learning experience for us.

After the DePauw match the Men had one more match against Oberlin College. UWW was able to sweep the doubles and they led 3-0. Heading into singles. 4 and 5 singles ended quickly with an Oberlin played retiring at 4 and Brady Porter retiring at 5. This made the match score 4-1. At this time Balkin was up at set at 1 singles, Bayliss was up a set at 2 singles, McGlashen was up a set at 3 singles, and Klein was down a set at 6. McGlashen's opponent came back to win the second set, and Klein on the next court came back to win his second. By the Bayliss had won his match. McGlashen ended up rolling through the third set 6-0, and Klein played well to clinch the match at 6 singles. Balkin's opponent then took the second set in a tie breaker to force the match into a third set breaker. Balkin came out slow, and it proved to be the difference as he lost the match. The overall match score was 7-2.

Overall it was a good week for the Men and Women. The Men went 3-2 and the Women went 3-1.

For Mens' Individual DePauw Scores

For Men's Individual Oberlin Scores

For Women's Individual DePauw Scores