September 3, 2015 By Emily Leclair

“Driven” is the word senior captain Michael Treis said describes the 2015 UW-Whitewater men’s tennis team.

“We know that we have the possibility to do something special, and I think everybody’s going to come in right away with 110 percent effort because we want to get the job done,” Treis said.

Last year’s team ended its season in the first round of the NCAA tournament after losing to Gustavus Adolphus College. The ’Hawks finished with a dual record of 22-8 for the season.

The team lost seniors Cam Laktash and Ben Shklyar to graduation, but Treis and senior captain Jake Humphreys bring experience to the young team with seven freshmen joining the roster.

Humphreys qualified for the NCAA Individual tournament last year and advanced to the quarter finals.

“[Humphreys] has kind of seen all the top players from around the nation in his first two years so he brings a wealth of experience,” head coach Frank Barnes said. “The rest of the team is a lot of underclassmen and we really have a hug influx of new players, we have seven very talented freshmen, and Ben Klein who is returning.”

Klein quit the team his freshman year because he wanted to be a normal UW-W student, but decided to come back for his senior season.

The ’Hawks welcome Division I transfer Grant Thompson, who was a starter from Eastern Illinois University.

“We’re expecting some good things out of him as well,” Barnes said.

With all the newcomers, the team has made it a point to have chemistry and bond during thew pre-season.

“Our team bond we have with each other and our overall unity, I think that’s the biggest difference between us and a lot of other schools,” Treis said. “I just think our overall chemistry is our biggest strength.”

Treis said the ’Hawks are looking forward to face Gustavus Adolphus College again, due to their loss in the NCAA tournament.

“I think for me and everybody else, you finally want to get that monkey off our back and be able to beat Gustavus,” Treis said.

Barnes thinks this year’s team has a chance to be one of the best teams UW-W has seen from past years.

“It’s hard to know with so many new people, but on paper they’re highly ranked players, a lot of them are highly talented tournament players from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota,” Barnes said. “If they work hard and accept what they need to do to be a top college player, then we could have one of the best teams we’ve had in a long time.”