I am intrigued by our men's team this year. The team is balanced with senior, junior, and sophomore returning players who have lots of college playing experience; and our freshman class who have prior high level USTA tournament experience. Our players are pushing each other every day in practice both physically but mentally, which can only make us stronger when it's time to put it all out there in a team match.
The men left this past Thursday for St. Peter, MN for the Regional ITA Fall Championships. We had all 16 Warhawks in the main singles and doubles draws this past weekend. I would like to first acknowledge our men for their efforts this weekend, for almost half of them it was their first ITA. The only hopes I had for them this past weekend was to see everybody put 100% on the court. The Warhawks did not disappoint.
Congratulations to seniors Jake Humphreys and Michael Treis for winning the doubles draw. The draw consisted of 64 total doubles teams, so Jake and Michael had to win 6 straight to claim the title. Jake and Michael did a number of things really well to be successful this past weekend.
- Never took any team they played for granted
- Showed great communication
- Positive energy with each other
- Were not phased by opponents making runs in their matches
- Basic doubles Serve and Return percentages were HIGH
Enjoy match point
The men are now headed into their fall training. From now till January, Frank and I will not be able to coach/hit with the guys in practices or matches. It will be interesting to see who works the hardest this fall off season. I would like to all of our guys take their games to the next level from now till the start of the spring season. Again, reps are so important in tennis, hitting lots of tennis balls, and playing matches that actually mean something, are ways that the Warhawks can improve. Who will raise their game, and who will fall thru the cracks?
The Lady Warhawks are in the middle of their conference season sprinkled with some non conference play. The team went to Stevens Point this past week and won 9-0. UW-Oshkosh and Elmhurst come to Whitewater Tuesday, followed by the Warhawk Fall invite this weekend. The Lady Warhawks look to keep fine tuning their skills and improve their match play before the WIAC Conference Championship in Madison (October 24th and 25th).
Balkin
