This last weekend the Warhawk Men's and Women's teams ended their seasons in the NCAA Regional Round. The Men advanced to the Round of 32, while the Women advanced to the Round of 16 for the 2nd time in the past 3 years.
The Men had the great privilege of hosting the NCAA Regional, the Women on the other hand headed down to Chicago for their regional. Both the Men and Women were 3 seeds in their regional.
Both teams on Friday took on the winners of the Northern Athletic Conference. For the men that was Concordia University (WI) and for the Women that was Wisconsin Lutheran College. Both opponents were tough, but the Warhawks pulled out the 5-0 victory in each match.
On Saturday the Men took on Gustavus Adolphus and the Women took on Washington University (MO). Both teams had faced their opponents before in the regular season with different results. The Men notched their first victory over Gustavus in program history 5-4, and the Women lost a nail bitter to Wash U at the Midwest Invite 5-4. These were both tough match-ups, but the Men and Women were up to the task.
The Women were scheduled to play at 10:00am and the Men at 2:00pm so the players were keeping up with how the other team was doing all Saturday.
For the first match up of the day the Warhawk Women took on Wash U. As I mentioned earlier Wash U beat our ladies at the Midwest invite, and I know all the ladies wanted to win this one. Doubles started off well at 1 and 2 doubles, but 3 doubles was a different story. 3 doubles fell down an early break in their match 0-3, and it wasn't looking good, but Megan Kasten and Lauren Aguilar played great to get the match back to 4-3. The 2 doubles matched played out exactly like the 2 doubles match at the Midwest Invite with Annie Smith and Sydney Divelbiss taking an early 4-0 lead only to see Wash U creep back in. At 1 doubles the match was much closer than the one at the Midwest Invite. Wash U was hanging tough in every point and trading break for break. After their slow start at 3 doubles Kasten and Aguilar stormed back to win 8-5 (A match they lost earlier in the year 8-3). 2 doubles withstood the barrage by their opponents to win 8-4. At this point all eyes turned to 1 doubles which was tight till the last minute. Both teams knew how important this last doubles match would be, either UWW takes a large 3-0 lead or a less daunting 2-1 lead. After a great tie break from Kalla and Alexandra the Lady 'Hawks had the 3-0 lead heading into singles. The match was not over yet though, and the ladies knew they would have to play their best if they wanted to win this match. Early on things were looking good at every court except 1 singles where Wash U's player was just too tough. She ended up beating Scheafer in straight sets. Bayliss and Kasten then came through big time for the Lady 'Hawks with their wins at 4 and 5 singles clinching the overall match 5-1.
Just as the Women's match in Chicago was ending the Men's match was set to begin in Whitewater. There was great support for the Men's team from family, friends, and former players. From what I've been told the crowd really got the Wangerin Courts bumping. In doubles the Gusties jumped out to an early lead at 1 and 2 doubles, and 3 doubles was close. At one point 1 doubles was down 3-7 only to storm all the way back to 8-7. 2 doubles also fought back from an early deficit to take the match 8-6, and 3 doubles played well but just couldn't come up with it in the end falling 8-5. At this time all eyes were on 1 doubles which was coming down to a tiebreaker. Both teams knew how important this match would be since it gave the winner the 2-1 lead going into singles. In the end Gustavus ended up pulling out the victory. The 'Hawks knew they had some adversity to overcome, but they were up to the task. Unfortunately so was Gustavus. They came to play at every position, and took the first sets at 1 through 6 singles. Not long after that the Gusties had clinched the win with victories at 3, 5, and 6 singles. This capped the 5-1 win for the Gusties and concluded the Warhawk Men's season.
The Women's season was not done yet though, after beating the number 11 team in the nation to advance to the Sweet 16 they had to face the regional host, number one seed, and number 2 ranked team in the country, The University of Chicago. The lady 'Hawks knew they needed strong doubles play to contend with Chicago, and as the match started they brought the energy. 2 doubles went out to an early 2-0 lead, and 1 doubles was close to breaking Chicago's first 3 service games. 3 doubles didn't start out so well though and fell behind early. 2 doubles ended up losing that early lead, and fought hard the whole match losing 8-3. 1 doubles couldn't convert on those early break chances as well and fell 8-3. 3 doubles after their slow start that saw them in a 6-1 deficit had clawed back to trail 7-5, and after a long game Chicago took the match 8-5. Even though the ladies weren't able to pull out one fo the doubles they felt they could still get in done in singles. There were close matches at 3, 4, and 6 singles, but in the end the Maroons were just too tough taking 1 and 5 singles to get the 5-0 win. This lost meant the end for the ladies season.
With the teams' seasons over it is a great time to reflect on some of the things these teams have done. The men had some great victories including a 5-4 win over then ranked number 11 University of Chiacgo, and the first ever win in program history over Gustavus. The Women also accomplished a lot this year beating some traditional powerhouse teams and their only loses in Division 3 this year came to teams ranked 1, 2, and 3 in the central region (They avenged that number 3 loss to Wash U). Overall this was one of the best years in Warhawk Tennis History and I look forward to the history next year's teams will make.
Don't forget to support Kalla Schaefer and Alexandra Bayliss as they head down to North Carolina for the NCAA Individual Championships. Kalla has qualified for singles, and her and Alexandra qualified for doubles. Play begins Thursday at 10:00am for singles, and 4:00pm for doubles.
I will be sure to post pictures from the Tournament soon. Thank you to everyone for their continued support throughout the season!
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