'Hawks Pick Up Two Wins on Senior Day

This Sunday the 'Hawks welcomed two tough regionally ranked teams in Coe and Elmhurst. Coe was up first and the schedule and to say it was a big match was an understatement. Last year Coe took down the 'Hawks in a tough 4-5 decision and this year they came to Whitewater undefeated 29-0.

In doubles the 'Hawks captured early breaks at 2 and 3 doubles, but their opponents kept fighting back. 1 doubles was a back and forth affair from the beginning. Coe broke the first game and held, but Shklyar/Osborne found their composure to hold and break back as well. Both teams then went on a streak and trading breaks and holds, and neither team could capture momentum. As 2 and 3 doubles moved on the teams of McGlashen/Bayliss and Humphreys/Balkin captured wins to put the 'Hawks up 2-0. All eyes turned then to 1 doubles to see if the 'Hawks could leave doubles with the 3-0 or 2-1 lead heading into singles. At 6-6 the 'Hawks held, and then using some solid and consistent returns at 7-6 Shklyar/Osborne got the break to win the match 8-6 and give the 'Hawks the 3-0 lead heading into singles. The 'Hawks knew hte match was far from over though. Coe is a tough team, and they never stop fighting. In singles the 'Hawks captured the first set at every court, but court 1 where Shklyar fell 6-7 in the first set.  Andrew Bayliss was the first 'Hawk to take his singles match at 5 singles 6-0, 6-1 to give the 'Hawks the 4-0 lead. Shortly after Mitch Osborne captured his second set at 6 singles to clinch the team victory for the 'Hawks. Byron Balkin then added another straight set victory as well at 2 singles to make it a 6-0 'Hawk lead. On the three remaining courts 1, 3, and 4 singles things weren't looking good. Shklyar had gone down an early break in the second while Andy and Jake at 3 and 4 singles dropped their second sets to force their matches into a third set breaker. Andy was bale to regroup and capture his tiebreaker while Jake was not so lucky. Shklyar wasn't able to mount a comeback either at 1 singles and fell 6-7, 2-6. After all was said and done the 'Hawks walked away from this match with a 7-2 win.

After the good win over Coe in the morning the 'Hawks turned their attention to recognizing the Seniors, Andrew Bayliss, Andy McGlashen, and Mitch Osborne, for the hard work they've put in over the last 3 years (They all were transfers). It was great to listen to the amazing things these guys have accomplished over the last few years, and how they have raised the bar for our program.

After acknowledging everything our great Seniors have done for us the 'Hawks turned their attention to their final match of the regular season against Elmhurst. In doubles 1 and 2 doubles took hold of their matches early and never looked back grabbing two quick wins. 3 doubles was a different story. Balkin/Humphreys jumped out to an early break, but their opponents used good play and great shot making ability to get the break back, and grab another. The 'Hawks found themselves down a break 5-6. The 'Hawks broke back and both team held to bring the match to 7-7. That's when Balkin/Humphreys made their move holding their serve, and then using strong returns and active play up at the net to capture the break and the match 9-7. With the 3-0 lead the 'Hawks looked to close out the Jays of Elmhurst College quickly. Byron Balkin was the first off the court at 2 doubles after his opponent defaulted being down 0-3. McGlashen, Osborne, and Klein added in strong straight set victroies at 3, 5, and 6 singles to give the 'Hawks the 7-0 lead. At 1 singles Shklyar was battling through nausea and light headedness, and it was clear he just wasn't on and eventually he fell in straight sets. Andrew Bayliss was the last one on the court, and he had to use some strong play to beat a tough lefty in straight sets. Capping off the 8-1 win for the 'Hawks.

To see complete scores from the Coe and Elmhurst matches click here

With the regular season over the 'Hawks will now wait to hear if they will qualify for the NCAA Tournament. If the 'Hawks can earn a berth it will be the 7th consecutive NCAA berth for the men. Overall, it has been a long season with many ups and downs. I know the guys will continue to put in a lot of work so they are ready to play their best when the post season comes around.

Women's Tennis Wins WIAC Final Four to Qualify for NCAA Tournament

This Saturday the Lady 'Hawks welcomed the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers, Eau Claire, La Crosse, and Oshkosh, in the fall conference tournament to Whitewater for the conference automatic qualifier. For the AQ the 1st place team plays the 4th place team in the first round while the 2nd place team plays the 3rd place team. The winners of those two matches then play to see who will represent the WIAC in the NCAA Tournament. In the first round the Lady 'Hawks were slated to play UW-Oshkosh.

At the start of doubles the Lady 'Hawks took control and never looked back dropping a total of 1 game in the three doubles matches. Lauren Aguilar and Erika Williams added two quick victories at 5 and 6 respectively dropping 1 total game to give the Lady 'Hawks the 5-0 lead. Since the match was being played to decision the remaining matches were stopped and the ladies advanced to the next round. On the other side of the bracket UW-Eau Claire took out UW-La Crosse to advance to the finals.

After the first round the Lady 'Hawks took the time to honor the Seniors, Lauren Aguilar, Sydney Divelbiss, Kelly Foster, and Megan Kasten, for all the work they've done for the program over the last 4 years. Overall, it was a long list of accomplishments and it reminded me of how much each of these girls had meant for our program.

After the Senior Day festivities and cake the Lady 'Hawks prepared to take on UW-Eau Claire for the honor to represent the WIAC in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady 'Hawks came ready to play in doubles and all 3 doubles. Divelbiss/Bayliss and Kasten/Vitale, Ja. both grabbed quick victories at 1 and 2 doubles respectively, and shortly after Aguilar/Foster made it a 3-0 lead for the Lady 'Hawks with an 8-4 win at 3 doubles. Unlike the first round this match would not be played to decision, and all the ladies came out ready to defend their singles spot. Highlights include Megan Kasten who after taking a tight first set took momentum in the second to win at 4 singles, and Jackie Vitale who revenged a loss at conference in straight sets. When all was said and done the Lady 'Hawks walked away with the 9-0 win, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

To see complete scores from the WIAC Final Four matches click here

This is the sixth consecutive NCAA berth that the Lady 'Hawks have captured and I know the ladies are excited to prepare for the NCAA tournament in two weeks. Overall, it was a long regular season and I know the ladies are happy that all the hard work they've put in over the season has paid off.

Women Tennis Picks Up Two Wins on Wednesday

This week was a busy one for the Women's Tennis Team. On Wednesday, the Lady 'Hawks had to split their squad to compete against Carthage College and Carroll University. Both matches were supposed to be played in Whitewater on Tuesday, but inclement weather forced the matches to Wednesday. Carthage couldn't travel to Whitewater so seven players, Sydney Divelbiss, Alexandra Bayliss, Megan Kasten, Erika Williams, Kelly Foster, Lauren Aguilar, and Abby Day, traveled to Kenosha to take on Carthage. While Jackie Vitale, Jess Vitale, Kelsey Fitzgerald, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Kristin Zeilinger, and Ashley Miller stayed in Whitewater.

Against Carthage in doubles, the 2 and 3 doubles teams of Kasten/Williams and Aguilar/Foster respectively jumped out to early leads and both teams never looked back. At 1 doubles, it was a bit of a different story. Divelbiss/Bayliss played well in the early going, but they couldn't overcome the great net play from their opponents. As the match progressed Carthage's great play warranted them a 7-4 lead with a chance to serve out the match. Divelbiss/Bayliss then began to chip away, and eventually they got the first break back. After another long game they held, and they were forcing their opponents to serve out the match again. Another long game ensued and again Divelbiss/Bayliss were able to come through in the clutch to tie the match at 7-7. Both teams then went on to hold their next services games, and the match went to a tiebreaker. Divelbiss/Bayliss jumped out early in the breaker and came out victorious 9-8(7-4). In singles the Lady 'Hawks continued their strong play. Megan Kasten and Kelly Foster were the first Lady 'Hawks off the court after winning at 3 and 5 singles in straight sets. Alexandra Bayliss and Abby Day were next capturing 2 and 6 singles for the Lady 'Hawks. Erika Williams and Sydney Divelbiss were the last Lady 'Hawks to finish, but both walked away victorious at 1 and 4 singles.

To see scores from the Carthage match click here

In Whitewater several Lady 'Hawks stepped up into the line-up, and they made the most of their opportunity. Jackie and Jess Vitale teamed up together to play 1 doubles and came away with an 8-5 victory. At 2 doubles Kelsey Fitzgerald and Ashley Miller teamed up together to grab a 8-0 victory. Since Carroll only had 5 players the Lady 'Hawks picked up the win at 3 doubles by default. In singles the Lady 'Hawks picked up big wins from Kelsey Fitzgerald, Caitlin Fitzgerald, and Ashley Miller from at 3, 4, and 5 singles dropping a total of 3 games. The Lady 'Hawks also picked up a default win at 6 singles. Jackie and Jess Vitale weren't so lucky at 1 and 2 singles. They both came up against strong players who tested them at every turn. Jackie dropped her match 3-6, 4-6, and Jess fought the whole way through her match only to lose in a third set breaker.

To see complete scores from the Carroll match click here

Men's Team Takes on Six Matches in Four Days

This last weekend the Men's team started a stretch of six matches in four days. The first three matches of this stretch were a part of the WIAC Final Four. Since only their are only four schools that sponsor Men's tennis in the WIAC the Final Four serves as pseudo conference tournament. The first match of the Final Four pitted the UW-Whitewater Warhawks against the UW-Oshkosh Titans. This is the second time the 'Hawks played the Titans this season, and because of weather the match was forced indoors to Four Lakes Athletic Club.

This time against UWO Byron Balkin and Jake Humphreys sat out giving Laktash/Friend the opportunity at 3 doubles, and Brian Klein and Michael Schnarr the opportunity at 5 and 6 singles. In doubles the Warhawk 2 and 3 doubles teams of McGlashen/Bayliss and Laktash/Friend respectively came out firing and both took quick wins. At 1 doubles Osborne/Shklyar got broken in the first game, but broke back to get it to 1-1. UWO then broke and held again to take the 3-1 lead before Osborne held to make the score 3-2. At this point in the match the tensions were tight and it Oshkosh's team was making if difficult to put the ball away, but Shklyar/Osborne rose to the challenge, and ran off 5 straight games. UWO held one more time before the 'Hawks closed out the match 8-4. With the 3-0 lead the 'Hawks looked to keep the pressure on in singles. At 1 singles Ben Shklyar had two tight sets, but came away victorious. At 2 singles Andy won his first set in what seemed like 10 minutes, but his opponent came out firing in the second to make the match tighter but Andy was just too much and he took the match in straights as well. Klein and Schnarr both stepped up in their line-up opportunities and dropped a total of 3 games at 5 and 6 singles. Bayliss and Osborne both took their match in straight sets as well to finish off the 9-0 win for the 'Hawks. After that match the 'Hawks got ready for two matches the next day.

To see the complete results against UWO click here

The next morning the 'Hawks started off taking on UW-La Crosse. UWL is a vastly improved team after the additions of a Division I transfer and some talented recruits. Again 2 regular starters for the 'Hawks sat out, Andy McGlashen and Andrew Bayliss. This time the doubles team of Klein/Friend got the start at 3 doubles, and Cam Laktash and Max Hawksford got the opprotunity to play in the line-up at 5 and 6 singles respectively. Again the 'Hawks came out firing in doubles. This time Shklyar/Osborne didn't struggle early like the day before at 1 doubles and ran away with the match early winning 8-1. Balkin/Humphreys played well from the start as well winning 8-3 and Klein/Friend walked away from 3 doubles victorious 8-2. Again as singles started the 'Hawks held the 3-0 lead, but they knew there was still work that needed to be done. At 1 singles Shklyar faced a tough opponent who took out Balkin in the fall at ITA's. The fist set was a struggle featured a lot of breaks, but Ben came up with the hold when he needed it at 6-5 to close out the first set. After that he found another gear and took the second set 6-1. Jake Humphreys and Mitch Osborne both took care of their opponents at 3 and 4 singles respectively. Max Hawksford got a strong win as well winning 6-3, 6-4 at 6 singles over a tough opponent. Two 'Hawks needed three sets to over take their opponents, Balkin at 2 singles and Laktash at 5 singles. Even though both players had to go to a third set tiebreaker in their matches the way they got there was different. At 2 singles Balkin struggled early and his opponent took the first set 6-2, but Byron began to find his groove in the second set and he took the set 6-2. At 5 singles Laktash had control of the match taking the first set 6-4. Laktash was in control of the second set as well before his opponent took control and took the second set. Even though these two 'Hawks had different paths to their third set breakers both came away with a win, and the 'Hawks finished the match against UWL with a 9-0 win.

Less than an hour later the 'Hawks began their match against UW-Eau Claire. UW-Eau Claire in the only remaining WIAC team that has beaten UWW in the last seven years when the beat the 'Hawks in 2010. Needless to say this year's team was not going to overlook the talented Bluegolds. Again two regular starters for the 'Hawks were sitting. Originally it was supposed to be Ben Shklyar and Mitch Osborne, but due to back injury he suffered against La Crosse Byron Balkin was out and Osborne hopped back into the line-up. This time the doubles team of Laktash/Friend hopped back in at 3 doubles and Klein and Bisbee jumped into the 5 and 6 singles spots. McGlashen/Bayliss stepped up to play 1 doubles for this match, and they played well throughout to win 8-3. Mitch Osborne and Jake Humphreys teamed up together for the first time at 2 doubles, but they looked like they had been playing together for years winning 8-1. Laktash/Friend had a tough match against their opponents at 3 doubles, but they played well when it mattered the most winning 8-6. The 'Hawks then looked to close out the Final Four without dropping a match heading into singles. The 'Hawks took the first set at all 6 positions. Andy McGlashen and Matt Bisbee both had close sets at 1 and 6 singles respectively but both played walked away form the first set victorious 7-5. Jake Humphreys and Brian Klein played well in both sets and both players dropped a total of 1 game in their two matches. Mitch Osborne and Andrew Bayliss both finished with straight set victories. Andy McGlashen closed out his second set after winning the first, but Matt Bisbee was not as lucky dropping his second set. This would mean Bisbee's match would head to a third set breaker. Both players played extremely well in the breaker. It was long one as well and both players had match points, but Bisbee's opponent came up big in the end taking the match 5-7, 6-3, 13-11. With the 8-1 win over UWEC the 'Hawks improved their record against WIAC opponents over the last 8 years to 37-1.

To see the complete results against UWL and UWEC click here

Normally after a great weekend like that the players would have the time to relax and recopperate, but there's was no rest for the 'Hawks as Sunday they had Kalamazoo coming into town. Last year the 'Hawks headed to Kalamazoo and came away with a tough 1-8 loss. The 'Hawks have only beat Kalamazoo once in school history and the team came out looking good. Again due to bad weather the matches were moved indoors to Four Lakes Athletic Club. In doubles all 3 teams came out on fire. In fact, it was probably our best doubles performance of the year. Our movement was great, but better than that we exceled at the fundamentals of doubles. On all three courts the players were doing great on their serves, returns, and first volleys and it really showed. Shklyar/Osborne took 1 doubles 8-3, McGlashen/Bayliss took 2 doubles 8-4, and Balkin/Humphreys didn't drop a game winning 8-0. Even though the 'Hawks lead 3-0 after doubles they knew how strong Kalamazoo was at singles. Andy McGlashen kept the 'Hawks winning ways going at 3 singles winning 6-3, 6-0 to give the 'hawks the 4-0 lead. Byron Balkin was the second 'Hawk off the court, but he wasn't as fortunate falling 3-6, 3-6 to a big hitting baseliner. That would be the last match the 'Hawks dropped as Ben Shklyar, Jake Humphreys, Andrew Bayliss, and Mitch Osborne all picked up straight set wins at 1, 4, 5, and 6 singles respectively. This was a great win for the 'Hawks especially after the beating Kalamazoo gave us last year.

To see the complete results against Kalamzoo College click here

On Monday the 'Hawks finished their last two matches of this daunting stretch. The first was against Illinois Wesleyan. Ben Shklyar had to sit out due to a make-up exam, but the 'Hawks took care of business without him. Again McGlashen/Bayliss played 1 doubles and they took control from the start winning 8-3. Balkin/Humphreys showed up in strong fashion winning 8-1 at 2 doubles, and Osborne/Friend teamed up for their second time this year to win 8-0 at 3 doubles. In singles the 'Hawks continued to take care of business. Osborne was the first one off the court after winning the first two games his opponent defaulted due to injury. Jake Humphreys and Andrew Bayliss both took home 6-0, 6-0 victories at 3 and 4 singles respectively, and Brina Klein picked up at 6-0, 6-1 victory at 6 singles. McGlashen struggled early in both of his sets falling behind a break in both set 3-4 before taking the last 3 games in each set to win the match 6-4, 6-4. Balkin had a tough first set, but he came out victorious 6-3, and found his mojo to take the second set 6-1. This capped off the 9-0 victory for the 'Hawks.

Up next for the 'Hawks was Edgewood College. None of the regular starters played in this match and instead many of the bench players got a chance to shine. Friend/Laktash stepped up to play one singles, and were on fire from the start winning 8-0. Klein/Bisbee also played well from the start winning 8-0 at 2 doubles, and Worley/Schnarr added a good victory at 3 doubles, 8-3. The 'Hawks continued their strong play in singles dropping a total of 11 games in 6 matches. The highlight of the night was Brian Klein who battled a strong opponent at 1 singles to come away with the 6-1, 6-4 win. Overall this was a great opportunity for these players to get line-up experience, and I'm very happy with how they handled this oppeotunity.

To see the complete results from the IWU and Edgewood matches click here

Not only did the 'Hawks come away victorious in these six tennis matches, but two intramural teams featuring players from both the men's and women's teams came away victorious on Monday night. The first was a coed soccer team that won a thriller in overtime, and the second was our men's tennis softball team, who won by slaughter rule in the 4th inning up 27-9. Four 'Hawks came up big in softball hitting home-runs including Byron Balkin, Mitch Osborne, Erik Scanlan, and yours truly.

Overall, it was a great weekend for the 'Hawks, and personally I hope to not have to do many stretches like that in the future (I'm tired). It's great though to see our team clicking at this time in the year though. Earlier in the season the men's team took a beating against some higher ranked opponents, and it's good to see the team coming together and playing well despite struggling earlier this year. Up next for the Men are the final two regular season matches Sunday 4/28 against Coe, and Elmhurst. Both matches are taking place at UWW. The 'Hawks will play Coe at 10am and Elmhurst at 2pm.

Here are some more pictures from this weekend as well.

Pictures from Alumni

Here are some pictures from the Warhawk's Alumni. Thanks to Liz Bayliss for taking the pictures.