Warhawk Tennis Fans, I'm sure you've all been waiting for a warp-up of the Individual NCAA tournament, and here it is. Not more than 2 weeks ago Ben Shklyar and Mitch Osborne headed off to Kalamazoo, MI to compete in the NCAA Individual tournament. Shklyar qualified in singles and the pair qualified as a doubles team. For Shklyar this was his first time at the tournament where Mitch was making a return appearance after qualifying for the doubles draw with Byron Balkin in 2011. Needless to say both players were excited to represent the Warhawks and try to bring home a title.
Dreary weather the first day of the tournament forced matches indoors. Up first for Shklyar in singles was a tough competitor from Redlands University. as the match start Shklyar got off to a great start grabbing the early break. Unfortunately for him he couldn't consolidate it. For both players this was the norm in the first set. Each one would grab a break and what they thought might be momentum only to see their foe do the same. It wasn't until Shklyar came up with a great hold and a break at 4-3 to take the first set 6-3. With the first set behind him Shklyar looked to keep the pressure on his opponent, but his opponent was just beginning to losen up. In the first set Shklyar's opponent was struggling with his serve, but in the second set he was a changed man with that serve. Doubles faults from the first set turned into aces in the second set. While Shklyar struggled to find the right recipe for a hold his opponent was gaining confidence with every serve he hit. Redlands proceeded to take the second set behind all that big serving. This would mean the match would go into a decisive third set. Shklyar and his opponent both started off the third set with holds, but in the third game Shklyar dropped his serve to put him down a break. For the next 6 games his opponent and him traded games back and forth until the score was 4-5. If Shklyar wanted to win this match he had no other games left to do it. He fought point after point, but he couldn't come up with any of his break point opportunities and eventually he fell 4-6 in the third.
After the disappointing loss in the singles Shklyar and Osborne turned their attention to the doubles draw. Their first round match was against the #3 seed from North Carolina Wesleyan. Even though they drew the #3 seed in the first round Ben and Mitch felt good about their chances. The match didn't start off as well as they were hoping though. Shklyar got broken in the first game after some big returns from their opponents, and the team from North Carolina Wesleyan then backed up the break with some monstrous serves for a quick 2-0 lead. Eventually Shklyar and Osborne caught their breath and were able to take Mitch's service game. After that the teams traded holds till 3-5 when Shklyar got broken again to give NCW the first set (NCAA individual tournament doubles matches are best 2 out of 3 sets). Heading into the second set the guys felt good that they could get back on the right track, but their opponents were going to make sure that wasn't going to happen. They eventually fell in a quick second set 1-6.
This would mean that the tournament was over for Shklyar and Osborne. I'm sure both of them had hopes of doing better in the tournament, but unfortunately this just wasn't their year. I'd also like to take the time to thank Ben's parents, Mitch's parents, Cam Laktash, Kevin Friend, and Andy McGlashen who all made the trip out to cheer on their 'Hawks in Kalamazoo, MI.
Now that the season's over we'll turn our attention to the Warhawk
Summer Tennis Camps. This year we are doing a total of 7 camps, 1 adult
camp (2nd year), 1 college prep camp (1st year!), and 5 junior camps (40th year!). Needless to say I am just
getting ready for one busy summer. Overall, this has been a great
season with lots to be proud of. Not only did our 'Hawks do a great job
on the court they also made huge contributions to the community off the
court. In fact, we just finished our free middle school program and a few women recently went out to Janesville to put on a quickstart event for a local girl scout troop.
