The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s tennis team was victorious  Saturday against Wheaton with a score of 9-0. The Warhawks extended their winning streak against Wheaton to seven in a row. The victory brought Whitewater’s record to 16-6, while Wheaton’s record drops to 14-3.

In doubles, the Warhawks were led by Jillian Wallace and Bridgid McGuire, who won their match 8-3. Alexandra Talyansky and Gabi Kitchell also won their doubles match with an 8-5 victory. Talyansky believes the victory, which snapped a two game losing streak, was from the mental toughness of the Warhawks.

“We have a lot of really mentally tough people on this team and sometimes it’s tough when you come off two close losses like that to come out and get this match. All these girls are really tough and I’m really proud of them for going out their and taking it,” Talyansky said.

In singles, the Warhawks dominated Wheaton with five of their six singles matches being decided in single sets. Gabi Kitchell struggled in her first set losing 2-6, however she dominated the next two sets winning 6-1 and 6-0 to claim a point. Coach Frank Barnes was happy with how Kitchell locked in after the first set defeat.

“I told her to just be the machine that she normally is. When she gets into a groove and gets a little bit of confidence, she’s pretty unstoppable.” Barnes added, “We just needed to get her in the mindframe of believing in herself and believing that she could get to that point. Right after the first set she locked in and got into that machine mode,” Barnes said.  

The match against Wheaton was the Warhawks first match outside this spring.

“It’s just a different atmosphere on home games playing outside. It’s really nice to finally be able to get a match out here instead of being indoors and not being able to hear people cheer for you and having to watch through the glass,” said freshman Sabrina Palavra.

Next Thursday, the tennis team will be action at 4 p.m. against Carthage. The match was originally scheduled for April 18, but was postponed due to inclement weather.