May 14 ... Gustavus Adolphus College defeated UW-Whitewater 5-1 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship Tournament in the Chicago, Illinois Regional Saturday.  UW-W championship central website

Photo Gallery (courtesy of Dave Hilbert, University of Chicago sports information director)

Gustavus Adolphus 5, UW-Whitewater 1
singles
1.  Sam Frank, GA, and Kalla Schaefer (Madison/Madison Memorial), WW, 6-1, 1-6, 1-4, unfinished
2.  Megan Gaard, GA, defeated Annie Smith (Algonquin, IL/H.D. Jacobs), WW, 6-3, 6-2
3.  Marianne Barau, GA, defeated Amy Siemon (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South), WW, 6-1, 6-1
4.  Alex Erickson, GA, defeated Megan Kasten (Verona/Verona), WW, 6-2, 6-2
5.  Megan Born, GA, and Sydney Divelbiss (Middleton/Middleton), WW, 3-6, 6-3, 1-1, unfinished
6.  Julie Bardenwerper, GA, and Alexandra Bayliss (Sheboygan/North), WW, 0-6, 1-0, unfinished
doubles
1.  Frank/Gaard, GA, defeated Bayliss/Schaefer, WW, 8-5
2.  Barau/Erickson, GA, defeated Divelbiss/Smith, WW, 8-2
3.  Lauren Aguilar (Gurnee, IL/Carmel Catholic )/Siemon, WW, defeated Bardenwerper/Born, GA, 8-6

Several matches were not finished because NCAA tournament play is continued only to decision, which is five wins for a team.  At the time the match was called, UW-W was 1-1 in sets in flight one with a lead in the third set, was 1-1 at flight five and tied in the third set, and was ahead 1-0 and trailed in the second set at six singles.

Gustavus' Gaard is ranked tenth in the Division III Central Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and Barau is number twenty-five.  The matchup at number one doubles featured the third ranked duo from Gustavus versus Whitewater's Bayliss and Schaefer, ranked tenth.  The Gusties' number two doubles team of Barau and Erickson is number eleven in the ITA Central Region.  One matchup of ranked players, at number one singles, didn't play to conclusion.  Frank is ranked fifth, Schaefer twenty-fifth.

UW-W, making its fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, ends the season 22-6.  It is also the fourth straight year the Warhawks have won at least twenty matches.  UW-W defeated Edgewood College 5-0 in round one Friday in Chicago.  Gustavus, 20-9 and ranked sixteenth nationally, advances to play in the regional final against the host, the University of Chicago, or Luther College.  Chicago and Luther are scheduled to play later Saturday afternoon.  The regional winner will join seven other regional winners at the final series in Claremont, California May 24-26.

Whitewater lost to Gustavus twice this season.  The Gusties won a March 12 matchup 7-2.  Gustavus has also eliminated UW-W from the NCAA tournament three of the last four years.  GAC won 6-0 in the second round in 2008, and by a 5-0 score in round three, the regional final, last year.

May 13 ... The UW-Whitewater women's tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III championship tournament with a 5-0 victory over Edgewood College Friday in Chicago, Illinois (host website).  The Warhawks improve to 22-5 and advance to take on Gustavus Adolphus College Saturday at 10:00 am.  Follow NCAA play on UW-W Championship Central website.

In the match against Edgewood, UW-W swept all three doubles matches, losing just one game, and won the first two singles matches in straight sets, losing no games.  The remaining four matches did not need to be finished as the matches are played to decision in the championship.

Singles
#1 - Kalla Schaefer (Madison/Madison Memorial) (UW-W) vs. Hannah Pincsak (EC) 6-1, 1-0, unfinished
#2 - Annie Smith (Algonquin, IL/H.D. Jacobs) (UW-W) vs. Amber Hemp (EC) 6-1, 3-1, unfinished
#3 - Amy Siemon (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) (UW-W) vs. Jessi Ditzler (EC) 6-1, 2-0, unfinished
#4 - Megan Kasten (Verona/Verona) (UW-W) vs. Shae Beckwith (EC) 4-2, unfinished
#5 - Sydney Divelbiss (Middleton/Middleton) (UW-W) def. Brittany Storhoff (EC) 6-0, 6-0
#6 - Alexandra Bayliss (Sheboygan/North) (UW-W) def. Kristen Boone (EC) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles
#1 - Bayliss/Schaefer (UW-W) def. Beckwith/Pincsak (EC) 8-0
#2 - Divelbiss/Smith (UW-W) def. Ditzler/Hemp (EC) 8-1
#3 - Lauren Aguilar (Gurnee, IL/Carmel Catholic )/Siemon (UW-W) def. Ali Diamond-Tumbush/Storhoff (EC) 8-0

Bayliss won her team leading 33rd match at singles and has just three losses.  Divlebiss won her 27th match at singles (27-4) and paired with Smith to win their twentieth match (20-9) at doubles.

The match on Saturday will feature two top ten regionally ranked teams.  UW-W is ranked eighth in the Central Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and Gustavus is ranked fourth.  Gustavus is also ranked nationally at sixteen.

Gustavus also boasts the number five singles player in the region, Sam Frank, who will likely face off against number twenty-three ranked Kalla Schaefer (Madison/Madison Memorial).  Gustavus also has the number ten and number twenty-five ranked players in singles in the region and the third and eleventh ranked doubles teams.  Whitewater has the tenth ranked doubles team.

May 10... The UW-Whitewater women's tennis team will begin play in the NCAA Division III championship tournament Friday, May 13 at 10:00 against Edgewood College in a six team regional hosted by the University of Chicago. You can follow the Warhawks on UW-Whitewater's Championship Central site.

Animoto

The Warhawk women earned a berth by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference  qualifier.  UW-W won the WIAC dual meet season, won the WIAC Tournament in October, and won the four team qualifier in April.  UW-W is 21-5 in dual meets.

The Chicago Regional has Whitewater and Edgewood meeting in a first round match, as well as Penn State-Behrend, 16-8, versus Luther College, 22-10.  The Whitewater-Edgewood winner will take on Gustavus Adolphus College, 19-9, and the Behrend-Luther winner will play the University of Chicago, 17-3.  The second round matches will be played Saturday, with the regional title match Sunday.

The University of Chicago is ranked fourth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rating, and Gustavus is ranked sixteenth.

UW-W has faced three of the other regional teams this season.  The Warhawks lost to Gustavus 7-2 March 12 in Saint Peter, Minnesota, and lost to the University of Chicago 6-3 April 8 in Madison, Wisconsin.  Whitewater and Luther met twice this season, with UW-W winning 8-1 March 22 in Florida and 5-4 April 9 in Madison.

UW-Whitewater is making its fourth consecutive NCAA III tournament appearance.  The Warhawks beat Saint Scholastica 5-2 in the first round in 2008 and fell to Gustavus 6-0 in round two.  In 2009 UW-W received a first round bye, then lost to Wheaton College (IL) 6-0, and last spring the Warhawks earned a first round bye, topped Wheaton College 5-1 in round two, and lost to Gustavus 5-0 in the regional final.

The key to Whitewater's success this year is the team's depth.  Amy Siemon (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) won the number one singles title at the WIAC Tournament, but moved to number two when Kalla Schaefer (Madison/Madison Memorial), the WIAC winner in 2009, returned to Whitewater in January.  Annie Smith (Algonquin, IL/H.D. Jacobs), 21-10; Alexandra Bayliss (Sheboygan/North), 32-3; Megan Kasten (Verona/Verona), 27-8; Sydney Divelbiss (Middleton/Middleton), 26-4; Lauren Aguilar (Gurnee, IL/Carmel Catholic ), 19-4; Abby Martin (Johnsburg, IL/Johnsburg), 13-1; and Jackie Vitale (Roselle, IL/Lake Park), 10-1, provide stiff competition for playing time.  With a variety of styles to choose from, UW-W tennis coordinator Frank Barnes has used nineteen doubles combinations.

The 2011 NCAA III Women's Tennis Championship Tournament includes forty-nine teams in eight regionals.  The eight regional winners will advance to the finals May 24-26 in Claremont, California.  UW-Whitewater is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the national tournament.

For additional information:  Frank Barnes, UW-W tennis coordinator