The UW-Whitewater lady hawks had a great road test this week, and came up with three conference wins in tough conditions to finish the fall dual match season 12-0 overall and 6-0 in conference play. 

Wednesday’s match at Steven’s Point was a sign of the tough road ahead.   At Steven’s point, the Warhawks had to go indoors due to unplayable outdoor courts to take on the Pointers. The indoor surface there is very quick, so the Warhawks had to adjust their game to overcome the home court advantage. They came away with a 7-2 win.

 

On Friday the team went to La Crosse to take on the UW-L Eagles in windy 45 degree conditions. The team started off slowly going down 2-1 after doubles. Our #3 team of Siemon/Rutkowski kept us alive with an 8-4 win over Maruyama/McDonald, but our #1 and #2 teams each lost their first conference matches of the year. In singles it was tight across the board in the first sets before the Warhawks were able to pull out the wins in 5 of 6 of the singles matches giving the Warhawks a 6-3 win, overall. Ingrid Stensvaag had one of the longest matches of the day after losing the first set to Kelly Kuether, before taking the second set, but lost 7-6 in the third set. Kathleen Kappel finished her match in the dark as she pulled out a three setter of her own at #6 against Jenny Maruyama. There were many good matches in this one, for all individual scores go to: http://www.uwwsports.com/news/2009/10/9/WTEN_1010093737.aspx?path=wten

 

It was more tough conditions again on Saturday when the team headed to UW Eau Claire to take on the Bluegolds. A touch of snow and freezing temps forced play in their field house on the quick surface, but the team again adjusted well. Kappel/Siemon lost quickly at #3 doubles, but the other two teams were able to pull out tough victories. Then in singles the team was able to pull out the sweep, giving them an 8-1 win. Siemon won at #3 in three sets, and Daciolas won at #5 in a match tiebreak, while the other four positions were won in straight sets. After the Eau Claire match the team sat several starters and moved several players up in the lineup against Edgewood College and won 9-0. The best match was Michelle Daciolas (normally our #5 players) as she needed another match tiebreak to knock off her opponent at #1 singles. For all individual scores for the Eau Claire and Edgewood matches go to: http://www.uwwsports.com/news/2009/10/10/WTEN_1010092622.aspx?path=wten

 

To go on the road and take out 3 of the best teams in the conference this time of year, tells me that the players are mentally tough and playing well at the end of the fall season heading into the conference tournament. They will need to be because the competition there is always intense.

 

Next up: Our match against UW-Milwaukee has been changed. It will be on Monday at 3:30pm, Oct 19^th instead of Sat. It will also be a scrimmage rather than a varsity match. Regardless, it will be a great way for us to tune up against strong competition, as UWM is a D-1 school. We had a great match last year losing 5-4 with the final and determining match going down to a match tiebreak, so we anticipate another great battle. On Oct 24^th and Oct 25^th the Lady Hawks will compete in the always exciting WIAC conference tournament. Play is on Saturday from 1pm-7pm and on Sunday from 9am-about 5pm at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, WI. Come cheer on the Warhawks!