Following a season where they finished second overall in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and won the WIAC tournament, UW-Whitewater has picked up right where they left off. They opened the season with a 7-0 sweep of UW-Oshkosh.
“I’m really proud of our team and what we’ve been able to accomplish today,” head coach Byron Balkin said. “I think that’s because of the work that the players have put in these past two weeks. They’ve been doing two-a-days, building that chemistry, and using each other as a way to get better.”
Senior captain Gracie Ha echoed that sentiment.
“It was the first match of the season and I think we all played really well.” Ha said. “These last two weeks definitely helped us a lot with training and being ready for today.”
Going into her fourth season with the program and being a senior, Ha is naturally in a leadership position. She is trying to set the tone on and off the courts.
“It’s definitely a change with a new coach and atmosphere,” Ha said. “I’m trying to keep these girls in check and remind them that we’re a good team and that we just need to be confident.”
Going into her last season, Ha looks to make the most of it and soak in every moment. She got off to a good start in the season opener.
Ha and her doubles partner, sophomore Abby Weaver, defeated UW-Oshkosh’s duo of Mani Usui and Kayla Gibbs 6-3. Ha then went on to defeat Olivia Pethan 6-1, 6-0 in the singles round.
“Over the summer, I just got as much match play as I could, in hopes of being ready for conference play,” Ha said. “I just want to go into every match knowing that I’m confident in my abilities and that I’ll play my best.”
While the season opener yielded very good results, there is still room for growth. The team will be working to improve their performance on the court and their team chemistry off of the court.
“We’ve got to work on all three phases: tactics, technical ability, and mental toughness,” Balkin said. “As a team, we need to focus on the doubles point and being able to come out strong together as three doubles teams on the court. That takes all of the players that are in for that moment.”
The win over UW-Oshkosh didn’t just start the season off on a good note, it started a tenure off on a good note. The season opener was Coach Balkin’s first win as the head coach of UW-Whitewater’s tennis program. This stint is a bit of a homecoming for Balkin, as he was a former player within the program from 2010-14, and then an assistant coach from 2014-18. Coach Balkin emphasized the importance of continuing the ‘Tradition of Success’ while bringing some new energy and some new approaches to how things are done.
“It’s really neat to take the torch from Coach [Frank] Barnes and to continue those traditions while bringing some new energy to the teams and a new way of doing things,” Coach Balkin said. “I’m really excited to be here and to get that first one done today.”
As is the case with success, expectations and goals are high. With the conference tournament coming in the fall, the timeline has slightly changed, but the overarching goals remain the same for the women’s tennis team.
“Our goal for this fall is to get a match win at all of our duels and just see where it goes from there,” Ha said. “In the spring, we want to qualify for nationals and keep that streak going.”
The team has qualified for nationals 18 seasons in a row by winning titles at the WIAC Championships. Coach Balkin not only wants to sustain that success, but he also wants to increase those expectations.
“We want to continue to raise our standards of what it means to be a Warhawk,” Balkan said. “Tradition runs deep here.”
