The UW-Whitewater women’s tennis team defeated UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire April 29 to win the WIAC Tournament and finish the season with an undefeated conference record.

The match was also the last home outing for the six seniors on the team. Head coach Frank Barnes emphasized the impact that the senior class has had on the program.

“It’s the most decorated senior class in school history,” Barnes said. “We got multiple All-American honors graduating; they do a terrific job in the classroom and they are great leaders. We may never have a class like this again.”

The Warhawks were the No.1 seed going into the tournament and managed to sweep the No.4 seed UW-Oshkosh 5-0 in the semifinals to advance to the championship against UW-Eau Claire.

They carried that momentum from the semifinals over into the championship. The Warhawks managed to sweep the Blugolds 6-0 and win the conference tournament as well as remain perfect on the day in both doubles and singles.

Senior Alexandra Talyansky finished her last home meet with a conference championship and a career milestone.

“It feels good senior year to win conference,” Talyansky said. “This is actually my 100th  career singles win so that makes it even more special.”

After winning the WIAC title, the Warhawks now have their eyes set on the NCAA D-III National Championships. Junior Gabi Kitchell believes that the team has the right personnel to make a run in the tournament.

“We are excited for nationals and we are going to start getting ready for that,” Kitchell said. “We have enough depth that we should hopefully make it far in the tournament.”

With an automatic bid from winning the conference tournament, it is now 12 years in a row that the Warhawks have made it to the NCAA tournament. Barnes is confident his players can compete with any team they face from here on out.

“We are going to, at best, be a number two seed in our regional, so we will have to knock off a one seed in order to make it to our goal of the final eight,” Barnes said. “We showed this year, when we do play teams like that, that we are capable of beating teams like that.”

The Warhawks are still waiting to see if they will be hosting or on the road for the first couple rounds of the tourney. The first round will be May 11 with the opponent yet to be determined.