This weekend the Men's tennis team took on two Division 1 opponents, UW-Madison and The University of Illinois-Chicago. Both matches took place at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, WI and it was great to see the huge Warhawk following that came out to support the 'Hawks.
The Warhawks started off their day of competition playing the Badgers. The Warhawks and Badgers have played every year since 2007. It really has become a fun match that all of our guys look forward to, and this year was no different. At the start of doubles the Warhawks were right there trading holds, but eventually UW got a break at each of the 3 doubles spots, and they never looked back. UW ended up winning the 1 doubles spot 8-2, 2 doubles 8-4, and 3 doubles 8-4. Due to Division 1 rules the Badgers were up 1-0 heading into singles. The 'Hawks were disappointed they weren't able to put up more of a fight in doubles, but they knew if they stuck to the fundamentals they would be able to compete and challenge the Badgers.
As the singles started the guys came out and battled every point. The 'Hawks showed some signs of brilliance building and finishing points, but the Badgers ability to generate offense from any part of the court was just too much. Some highlights from this match were Byron Balkin falling 3-6 3-6 in a hard fought battle at 2 singles, and Andrew Bayliss falling 3-6, 2-6 at 5 singles.
After the loss to the Badgers the 'Hawks had to regroup, and prepare to play the Flames from UIC. At the start of doubles the Warhawks felt good about the match up. At 1 doubles Mitch Osborne and Ben Shklyar came out firing and never looked back winning 8-2. At 2 doubles Andrew Bayliss and Andy McGlashen jumped out to an early two break lead, but UIC fought back. After UIC pulled off a few great no-ad points Bayliss and McGlashen found themselves down 6-7 serving to stay in the match. UIC pulled off some great returns to win the game and the match 8-6. Now the doubles point would come down to 3 doubles. The match was close throughout. A few times in the match the 'Hawk duo of Byron Balkin and Kevin Friend went up a break only to see it fade away. Eventually they found themselves down 6-7 serving to stay in the match, and just like Andy and Andrew they couldn't pull out the win. Those two late doubles wins gave UIC the 1-0 lead heading into singles.
At the start of singles the results were mixed across the board. At 1 singles Ben Shklyar took an early lead going up two breaks and securing the first set 6-2. At 2 singles Byron Balkin was up and down in the first set, but in the end he lost 4-6. At 3 singles Andy McGlashen was down early, but came back to win the first set 6-4. Andrew Bayliss was down a break early at 4 singles before getting it back to 5-5, but he came up short losing the first set 7-5. Mitch Osborne started off strong at 5 singles and took his first set 6-3. At 6 singles Brian Klein started off very slowly but he stormed back to take the first set 6-4. At this point things looked good for the 'Hawks with 4 first sets won if they could hold on and take the second they would win the match, but UIC wasn't going to go away that easy.
After losing the first set at 2 singles Balkin fought back in the second, but his opponent was just too much, and he won the second 6-2. This gave UIC the 2-0 lead, but about 20 seconds later Brian Klein finished off his match with a terrific 6-1 win in the second set slimming the UIC lead to 2-1. A few minutes later Mitch Osborne took his match to pull the match even at 2-2. Around this time the three remaining matches were looking close and neither team was really pulling away. At 3 singles Andy McGlashen had another back and forth set, but this time his opponent came away victorious and it sent the match into a decisive third set. At the start of Andy's third set Andrew Bayliss was fighting to stay alive at 4 singles. After losing the first set he was down a break in the second. Bayliss had a few chances to break back, but couldn't capitlize and eventually lost the second set and the match. UIC pulled ahead 3-2 and needed to win one of the remaining singles matches to win the match. Ben Shklyar entered into a tiebreak for the second set around the time Bayliss lost his match, and he played great throughout the tiebreak to win the match 6-2, 7-6(5). This meant the match was tied 3-3 and it would come down to Andy McGlashen. While Bayliss and Shklyar were win their second set Andy had found himself down 0-3 in the third set after suffering cramps. Andy could barely walk in between points, but he continued to fight. At 2-5 in the third set Andy showed his tremendous fight. After double faulting on 4 consecutive deuce points Andy would play extremely well with the match point against him, and eventually he took the game. After that game no one was sure what would happen. UIC had the advantage and the fresh legs, but Andy just wouldn't give up. Unfortunately though Andy just didn't have enough legs to win and he lost the third set 3-6. This gave UIC the match 3-4.
Even though the 'Hawks weren't victorious in these two matches it's obvious the team is moving in the right direction. Now we just have to take what we learned form these matches and apply it to the rest of the season. I have to say I am extremely impressed by the fight our team showed. Next week the Warhawks take on their first Division III opponent of the year in Kenyon College, and their last Division I opponent of the year in UW-Green Bay. Both matches take place on Saturday 2/9 at Western Racquet Club in Green Bay, WI.
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