During spring break, the women’s tennis team enjoyed a domain of dominance down in Orlando, serving its way to an undefeated record.

The women finished its trip with a 6-0 record and defeated Division III perennial power Luther College handily, 8-1.

“We won a few matches by a large margin against some pretty good teams,” head coach Frank Barnes said. “So I think this shows we improved a lot since the fall.”

Other teams they defeated include George Fox University 8-1, Grinnell College 9-0, St. Olaf College 8-1, Kalamazoo College 9-0, and Calvin College 5-4.

The team’s next matches will be at the Midwest Invitational, April 8-9 at the Nielson Tennis Center in Madison.

Barnes said the return of junior Kalla Schaefer will be critical to the team’s sustained success. Schaefer was the ’Hawks’ No. 1 singles player for the last two seasons until she transferred to UW-Madison last fall.

In fall 2008, Schaefer took seventh at the ITA Small College Championchips.

Now she’s back and leading the way again for the ’Hawks from the No. 1 singles spot.

Senior Amy Siemon, who is on pace to break the ’Hawks singles winning record, lost only once in Florida as well.

“I had a few shaky matches,” Siemon said. “But overall it was a good experience.”

The doubles combination of Schaefer and Alexandra Bayliss finished their break with a record of 6-1, their only loss coming against Calvin College.

Barnes put together six different doubles combinations that went for a total record of 14-2.

“We had all different pairings from what we had in the fall,” Barnes said. “It will probably be our main focus over the next three to four weeks.”

After returning to Wisconsin on Friday night, the women were not done. They faced off against Division I UW-Madison on Saturday.
The women were defeated 7-0 and ending their seven match winning streak.

“They were really tough but I think overall it was a good experience for everyone,” Siemon said.