The UW-Whitewater men’s and women’s tennis teams headed to Kenosha, WI this weekend to take on Carthage College. The women used 10 different players in their lineup to top Carthage 9-0, while the men were in a dogfight with Carthage in a match that could have secured them a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The men started slowly. In doubles play they were only able to muster a win at the #1 spot as the dependable Glinert/Caiati continued on their tear, picking up their 26th doubles win together. Scanlan/Hintz and Krieger/Miller both lost and the Warhawks were down 2-1. This deficit then deepened when Glinert lost to a flawless Jack Shiro at the top spot putting the Hawks down 3-1. Scanlan attacked away at #4 and Caiati showed great patience at #2 and they both picked up straight set wins to even the team match at 3-3 with three tight singles matches remaining. Halweg was the next one off winning a long two setter 6-4, 6-3 at #6. This meant the Warhawks needed one of the two matches remaining. Harmatys was in a third set at #3 and Krieger was about to force his opponent to three sets after dropping the first at #5, so it was getting very exciting. Harmatys’ third set started out great as he pulled ahead 4-1, but Lotz battled back and the match went back and forth until Harmatys was finally able to lock in the win 6-4 in the deciding set. Krieger went on to win his second set in a tie-break forcing a match tie break for the match in which he won 12-10 giving the Warhawks the 6-3 win.
The women started with singles and took all six singles spots. With Stensvaag and Daciolas out of the singles lineup, Kasten and Divelbiss stepped in and performed very well dropping only 3 games between the two of them. Schaefer and Aguilar only lost two games apiece while Siemon and Smith took out tough opponents in close matches at #2 and #3. In doubles our new combos at #1 and #2 stayed undefeated this spring. Schaefer/Smith are now 4-0 after beating the 15th ranked team in the region 8-6. Stensvaag/Daciolas also raised their record to 4-0. Abby Martin replaced Siemon at #3 doubles as she paired up with Rutkowski in their 8-2 win.
Earlier in the week the men traveled to IL-Wesleyan where they took out the Titans 8-1 on a day of 40 mile an hour winds. The highlight of that match was Brady Porter stepping in once again at #6 raising his singles record to 11-2.
Up next for the Warhawks: The women have already earned a trip to the NCAA tournament which will begin the weekend of May 14th with the first three rounds of action. They are waiting for selection Monday to see where they will travel and who they will play in their 3rd consecutive trip to the big dance. The men’s team put themselves in a great position for a selection to the NCAA tournament as well. If selected it would be their 4th consecutive trip. They will also wait for selection Monday to hear final word and are also being considered as a possible host site for the first three rounds (also the weekend of May 14th).
We will keep you posted as soon as we hear any of this exciting news. We hope to see some of our familiar fans out cheering us on!
GO WARHAWKS!!
