The typical spring breaker will spend their time on a beach.     The UW-Whitewater men’s tennis team spent its break on the court.

The team traveled to Orlando, Fla., to face five teams from March 21-24. and will now return home for the first time in nearly two months.

The Warhawks face off against Carthage College Saturday.

“It will be great to play at home,” head coach Frank Barnes said. “It’s not easy to travel six hours, warm up for 45 minutes and play a match, so we will be much more comfortable at home.”

It was a brutal week in Orlando playing in hot conditions, but well worth it as the team finished at 5-0.

The Warhawks defeated three teams from the central region in Grinnell College 6-3,  Oglethorpe College 7-2, and Calvin College 9-0.

The Warhawks also defeated Division II Merrimack College 8-1, but the highlight of the week was the team’s win over Luther College 5-4.

“That win was huge for us because Luther is a great team,”  Barnes said. “It was hot and a lot of our matches went to superbreakers, and I think we showed a lot of fight and mental composure.”

Prior to the match, the International Tennis Association poll had the ’Hawks ranked No. 8 in the Central Region with the Norses coming in at No. 10.

The theme for the ’Hawks was mental toughness and they showed plenty of it. The No. 1 doubles team of Mitch Osborne and Byron Balkin were down 0-4 early in their match against the No. 9-ranked doubles team, but battled back to pull out the win 8-5.

In singles, all three of the team’s wins came in three sets with superbreakers. One of the key wins came from sophomore Andrew Bayliss, who was down early but outlasted his opponent for the win.

“After I lost the first set 3-6, I knew my team needed me,” Bayliss said. “So I composed myself and came back to win 6-0, and won easily in the superbreaker 10-4.

“That match really came down to perseverance because I was tired from my previous matches. We haven’t played much in temperatures like those and the wind was affecting my shots, but I just pushed through it all.”

The match that won it for the ’Hawks came from freshman Ethan Niquet.

“I won 6-1 in the first set and was up early 4-1 in the second set,” Niquet said. “But I wilted a bit in the heat and lost five straight to give the second set up, 4-6.”

Niquet lost a similar match earlier this season to Gustavus College, but was able to collect himself this time and won the superbreaker, 10-7. Niquet was unaware that his match gave his team the win until he was mobbed by fans and teammates.

“I thought we clinched already when I was in the superbreaker, and then my teammates told me I won it and we went crazy,” Niquet said. “Clinching against Luther was definitely the highlight of my week.”