The Warhawks women’s tennis team traveled to Madison for the Midwest Invitational where the team won two out of three matches against three nationally ranked opponents. The men’s side dropped a close home match to nationally ranked Kalamazoo College (Michigan).
“This is a perfect setup for the postseason,” head coach Frank Barnes said. “It teaches our players what to do when it’s all on the line.”
At the Midwest Invitational in the Nielsen tennis stadium in Madison, the women dropped their first match by a score of 5-4 to DePauw (Indiana). The two teams split the six singles matches and went into doubles tied up at three.
Senior Megan Humphreys won her singles match (7-6, 6-0) and juniors Alexandra Talyansky and Jillian Wallace won their matches (7-5, 6-2) and (6-2, 3-6, 1-0) respectively.
In doubles, Talyansky and Wallace won their match 8-4 but the Warhawks dropped the other two doubles matches to lose by a final score of 5-4.
Wallace was contacted but could not be reached at press time.
In their second match of the day the Warhawks took on Kenyon (Ohio), where the team split the six singles matches and were tied heading into doubles. Talyansky and Wallace again each won their matches in straight sets by scores of (6-2, 6-3) and (6-1, 6-2), respectively. Junior Bridgid McGuire also won a singles match (3-6, 7-5, 1-0). In doubles the Warhawks came out on the winning side of things this time winning two out of three matches. Humphreys/McGuire and Talyansky/Wallace both won their doubles matches by a score of 8-3 to break the tie and give the Warhawks the win by a final score of 5-4.
The women finished up the invite with a 6-3 win on Saturday against Denison (OH).
In singles four different Warhawks won in straight sets. Wallace and Talyansky won (6-2, 6-3) and (6-2, 6-1) in their respective singles matches. Junior Brittany Goebel won her singles match (6-3, 6-0) and junior Alicia Beck won her match (6-3, 6-2). In doubles competition McGruire/Humphreys won by a score of 8-3, while Talyansky/Wallace won 8-2. The women came finished the weekend with a 2-1 record at the invitational and a 17-5 overall record on the season.
The men’s team were also in action this weekend and lost a dual match at home against Kalamazoo College by a final score of 5-4. It was the first home loss of the season for the team.
“The guys fought hard in all the matches that were close,” Barnes said. “We played hard”.
The Warhawks won two out of the three doubles matches. Sophomore Rory Calabria and freshman Zach Wood won their doubles match 8-3, and junior Matt Zurowski and sophomore Brandon Dechter won their doubles match 8-7 via tiebreak. Kalamazoo came back to take the lead in singles play by winning four matches in straight sets. Junior Zane Navratil won his singles match (3-6, 6-2, 6-3) and sophomore Jimmy Engelhart also won his singles match (6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3). After the loss the men dropped to 10-9 overall on the season and 7-1 at home.
Both men’s and women’s teams return to the court April 14 in St. Louis, Missouri when they face off against Washington University (Missouri) and the University of Chicago.