Video from Case & DePauw Doubles

Here is a video of the doubles action from the Men's Tennis Team's most recent matches against Case Western and Depauw University. Enjoy!

Warhawks split against Case Western Reserve & DePauw

The weekend the UW-Whitewater Men's Tennis team traveled to Greencastle, IN to take on two nationally ranked Division III opponents. This was a great weekend for the 'Hawks to see how they look against some good Division III competition.

Up first for the 'Hawks was Case Western Reserve University. The 'Hawks have played Case recently in 2011. It was a barn-burner with Case coming out victorious 5-4. This time the Warhawks hoped to avenge that victory. As the match started doubles was going well. At 1 and 2 doubles both teams were holding serve early. At 3 doubles they found themselves down a break after the first game, but eventually they broke right back to level the match. At 1 doubles Shklyar/Osborne played well the whole time, but eventually they got broken, and that was the only break in the match as Case prevailed 8-5. At 2 doubles Bayliss/Balkin broke Case at 6-5 to go up 7-5 with the opportunity to serve out the match and put the Warhawks on the board. Unfortunately Case played a great game, and forced the match to continue on. At 3 doubles McGlashen/Humphreys were in a tight match until they got broken at 5-5. After a hold from Case to make it 5-7 they eventually broke the 'Hawks again to close out the match. Now all eyes turned to 2 doubles where the 'Hawks and Case were entering a tiebreak for the match. As it started the 'Hawks took the first point, but then Case turned the momentum in their direction and it was just too much to overcome and the 'Hawks found themselves on the losing end 8-9(3). 

At this point the guys were definitely down. We didn't want to start this match down 0-3, but I know they had the confidence to know that this match wasn't over just yet. As singles started things didn't look promising except at 1, 2, and 6 singles. All 3 courts found themselves at some point in the first set up a break. Eventually Shklyar took the first set at 1 singles 6-4, Byron fell in his first set 6-7, and Mitch relinquished his break to fall in the first set 4-6. Shklyar's first set victory at 1 seemed to pump a lot of energy into the guys especially McGlashen at 3 singles, Humphreys at 4 singles, and Bayliss at 5 singles. McGlashen lost his first set at 3 singles 2-6 and he continued to fight in the second set until the match was over with his opponent winning 6-2, 6-2 giving Case the 4-0 match lead. Bayliss lost his first set 3-6, but used some energy from Ben's first set victory to make his second set much closer. Humphreys lost his first set 0-6 at 4 singles, but that must have turned a light on in his head because he came back to win the second 6-2. Around this time Mitch Osborne's match was concluding at 6 singles, and unfortunately Mitch was on the losing end. This would give Case the 5-0 lead and the win, but now the remaining 'Hawks were playing for pride. Humphreys gave the 'Hawks their first singles win finishing a comeback after losing the first set 0-6. Humphreys' match finished with a final score of 0-6, 6-2, 10-6. With that win there was a little more energy in the facility, and just a few minutes later Shklyar finished off a big win at 1 singles winning 6-4, 6-2. Bayliss was fighting every point in his match, but eventually his opponent was just too strong and he took the match 6-3, 7-5. The last match was Byron Balkin at 2 singles, after a tight first set that he lost in a tiebreaker Byron found himself down 0-5 in the second. At that point he relaxed and eventually began to chip away at the 0-5 lead. Eventually he brought the second set all the way to a tiebreaker. With the momentum on his side he jumped out early and took the set tiebreak to force the match into a ten point tiebreaker. Byron continued to hold the momentum and eventually he took the match tiebreak 10-5. I'm pretty sure at the moment he was the happiest person on earth.

With Byron's win the final score against Case turned out to be 3-6. Even though it wasn't the result we were hoping for we couldn't sit around and lick our wounds because in a few hours we had to come back and play another nationally ranked team.

The match didn't start till 9:30pm and it didn't end until 1:30am, but with all the energy provided by both teams you would have thought this match was happening at 9:30am. As doubles started the 'Hawks knew they had to play better than they did against Case. In matches like these it's very important if you can capture at least one of the doubles. The whole dynamics of the match change when you are facing a 0-3 deficit. 

At 1 doubles Shklyar/Osborne jumped out to an early and what proved to be insurmountable lead winning 8-2. At 2 doubles Balkin/Bayliss fought hard the whole way through. Both teams were holding serve the whole time through until Andrew and Byron broke through at 6-5 to get the break and serve out the match at 7-5. Unfortunately just like earlier against Case they were broken and the match was back on serve. At 3 doubles McGlashen/Humphreys had the most heated match of them all. The match was a back and forth with their opponents from DePauw, but Andy and Jake proved to be the better duo in the end winning 8-5. At this point 2 doubles found themselves down 8-7 tyring to break to stay in the match. It was a tight game, but they eventually got the break and forced the match into a tiebreaker (their 4th doubles tiebreaker this year in 5 matches together). This time Byron and Andrew played well in the beginning to take the momentum, and they never looked back taking the tiebreak to give the 'Hawks the 3-0 lead heading into singles. 

Even with the 3-0 lead the 'Hawks knew nothing was a given. They needed to come out and try to win every match otherwise DePauw could come back. Quickly Shklyar and Balkin took their first sets 6-2 at 1 and 2 singles respectively. Mitch Osborne followed suit at 6 singles, but he took a little longer winning his first set 6-4. Bayliss and Humphreys both had difficulties with their opponents in the first set as Andrew fell 2-6 and Jake fell in his first set 1-6. Andy was having the longest match of the night and he closed out his first set 7-6 as everyone was right in the middle of their second sets. 

The first Warhawk to get a singles point up on the board was Ben Shklyar he fnished off his match 6-2, 6-4 to give the 'Hawks the 4-0 lead, and within 5 minutes Mitch Osborne sealed the win for the 'Hawks with a 6-4, 6-2 win at 6 singles. At this point Humphreys and Bayliss were making comebacks even though they knew the 'Hawks had won the match they wanted to win their own individual match. After losing the first set 1-6 Jake Humphreys stormed back to take the second set 6-2, and just like his first comeback match of the day he finished off this match tiebreaker 10-6. Bayliss forced his match into a mtach tiebreaker as well after dropping the first set 2-6 he was commanding the court with his backhand in the second set to win 6-3. At the start of the match tiebreak he made some uncharacteristic errors, and his opponent siezed the momentum to take the tiebreaker 10-2. Moments later Byron Balkin found himself in a tiebreaker for the second set at 2 singles. He came out victorious for his second big singles win of the day 6-2, 7-6. At this point the 'Hawks had the 7-1 lead and all eyes turned to Andy McGlashen. Andy had won the first set 7-6, and he was up 5-3 in the second set but eventually his opponent fought his way back into the match to force a set tiebreaker. Andy then steamrolled in the tiebreaker and took it 7-1 to give him the win 7-6, 7-6. This capped off the 8-1 victory for the 'Hawks over DePauw and this is the first victory over DePauw in program history (previously 0-9).

Overall, it was a good weekend. I'm sure none of us wanted the Case match to end that way, but I'm very pleased with the fight and resiliency our guys showed in that win over DePauw. Here are some pictures from this weekend. As always I'd like to thank Liz Byaliss for taking these pictures, but I'd also like to thank here for getting them to me so quickly.

Photos from the Warhawk Invite 2013

Here are some photos from the 'Hawks recent 3 wins over UW-Oshkosh, Wheaton College, and Grinnell College.

Thanks Liz Bayliss!

Photos from UW and UIC Matches

Here are some photos from our matches back on 2/2 against UW-Madison and UIC.

Thanks Liz Bayliss!

Warhawk Invite

This weekend the Warhawks welcomed three tough teams to Wisconsin for the Warhawk Invite, Grinnell College, UW-Oshkosh, and Wheaton College. All three of these teams have challenged the 'Hawks the last few years and the guys were ready to come out and compete.

On Friday the 'Hawks took on UW-Oshkosh and Wheaton College at Four Lakes Athletic Club in Elkhorn, WI. First up for the 'Hawks was UW-Oshkosh. The 'Hawks came out firing in doubles. Byron Balkin and Andrew Bayliss at 2 doubles broke twice in the first 3 games and they never looked back winning 8-2. At 3 doubles Kevin Friend and Brian Klein were back and forth with their opponents for the first few games, but they eventually took the lead and ran with it winning 8-4. 1 doubles was more of the same, Ben Shklyar and Mitch Osborne were in a tight match in the first few games. Both teams traded breaks back and forth until the Warhawks found their groove to win 8-4.

The 'Hawks felt good after doubles, but after the last few weeks of playing well and not getting any wins the 'Hawks were going to make sure this one didn't get away. At the 3-6 singles spots the 'Hawks stepped up to control the matches from the start. With Ben Shklyar and Andrew Bayliss out of singles Brian Klein and Cam Laktash stepped up at 5 and 6 singles respectively. Klein won his match at 5 singles 6-0, 6-3 and Laktash won at 6 singles 6-0, 6-1. 1 and 2 singles were tough matches the whole way through though. At 1 singles Balkin was in a tight match. In both sets the players were holding serve up until 4-4 when Byron broke and held to win each set 6-4, 6-4. Andy McGlashen was in a different situation all together. Andy lost the first set 2-6 after some great defensive play by his opponent, and he was down a break in the second set. After a long game Andy found himself back on serve, and then some even longer games later he found himself up a break serving for the set. Eventually he closed out the set, and they entered the third set breaker. At that point Andy jumped out to a huge 6-0 lead and he never looked back winning the third set breaker 10-2. This capped the 9-0 victory for the 'Hawks.

After the match against UW-O the 'Hawks didn't have anytime to celebrate their first win of the season they had to turn around and get ready to play Wheaton College. In doubles Ben Shklyar and Mitch Osborne sat out the doubles and Byron Balkin and Andrew Bayliss stepped up at the 1 doubles position. The match was tight as Andrew and Byron went down a break early, but they eventually fought their way back. Both teams continued to hold and eventually they found themselves in a tiebreaker. Early in the tiebreaker the 'Hawks struggled and on the change of ends they found themselves down 1-5. They continued to chip away at that lead, and they eventually won the tiebreaker 8-6. At 2 doubles both teams held the whole way through till Andy and Jake broke at 7-6. Cam Laktash and Kevin Friend dominated throughout to win 8-0.

In singles Ben Shklyar and Andy McGlashen sat out so Brian Klein and Matt Bisbee could get some valuable experience. Bisbee stepped up at 6 to get his first every collegiate dual match victory 6-2, 6-3. Klein also stepped up to notch his second singles victory of the day. Jake Humphreys and Andrew Bayliss also notched victories for the 'Hawks. The only match the 'Hawks dropped all day was at 1 singles where Byron Balkin fell 2-6, 2-6 in a tough match.

For complete scores from both matches on Friday click here

On Saturday the 'Hawks traveled to Cherokee Country Club in Madison, WI to take on Grinnell College. Grinnell is a tough team that beat the 'Hawks as recently as 2009. At the start of doubles it was clear that they guys were playing well and with a lot of confidence. All three doubles secured breaks early and eventually the 'Hawks found themselves up 3-0. 

As singles started the Warhawks jumped out early at every match. With Byron Balkin sitting out the match Brian Klein stepped up for an impressive 6-1, 6-0 win at 6 singles. Other highlights from singles include a 6-2, 6-1 victory from Ben Shklyar at 1 singles and a 6-0, 6-0 victory from Jake Humphreys at 3 singles. 

For complete scores from the match against Grinnell on Saturday click here

Overall this was a good weekend for the 'Hawks. It was important to get some victories over some tough teams. I know a lot of the guys were getting tired of losing, and these were good matches to renew their enthusiasm. Next weekend the Warhawks travel to Greencastle, IN to take on Case Western Reserve University and DePauw University.

In other news, the win against Grinnell was also an important milestone in Coach Frank Barnes' career. That victory marked the 200th victory in Frank's career as Men's Tennis Head Coach.

Congrats Frank!

Pictures from UWGB & Kenyon

Here are some pictures from the 'Hawks matches against Kenyon College and UW-Green Bay. As always thank you Liz Bayliss for taking the pictures!