The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's tennis team defeated Wheaton College and Luther College in a doubleheader to kick off the Warhawk Invites on Friday evening. The Warhawks took both duals with a score of 4-3, but got the final result in different ways.

To start the day, the Warhawks defeated Wheaton 4-3. UWW picked up the doubles point, sweeping all three flights, then took the match after three straight singles wins from Theo Billson (Lindfield, England/BHASVIC), Gavin Kelleher (Brooklyn, Minn./Champlin Park), and Charles Morgan (Naperville, Ill./Central). With a 4-0 lead, the Warhawks had taken the dual match against the Thunder. 

In the evening session, the Warhawks had a close 4-3 match that went down to the final flights of both the doubles and singles flights.

The Warhawks grabbed the doubles point with a win at the second doubles draw. The Norse grabbed the top doubles flight with UWW taking the third flight. Gavin Kelleher (Brooklyn, Minn./Champlin Park) and Charles Morgan (Naperville, Ill./Central) went into the tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles. The pair scored on four of the last five rallies to take the tiebreaker 6-4. 

Luther was able to even the match with wins at the first, third, and fourth singles flights. The Warhawks grabbed their own two flights with Kelleher and Morgan winning their respective draws.

With the match score tied at 3-3, Daniel Moeller had the match point on his court at the sixth singles flight. Moeller had the advantage, winning the first set 6-2, but was behind in the second set 5-3. Moeller was able to flip the momentum fighting off the set point to win four straight games. That secured the match for the Warhawks at 4-3 over the Norse.

The Warhawk Invite weekend continues Saturday morning with a match between Grinnell College and Wheaton College. Luther College will then play Grinnell, followed by the nightcap of Luther against Wheaton. The Warhawks will finish out the Invite in Lake Geneva on Sunday, February 11th against Grinnell College. 

Grinnell Results
D1:    Theo Billson (Lindfield, England/BHASVIC)/Carter Michaels (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Eagan) def. JANG/WINTERS | 6-2
D2:    Gavin Kelleher (Brooklyn, Minn./Champlin Park)/Charles Morgan (Naperville, Ill./Central) def. TANG/HILL | 6-3
D3:    Julius Jonsson (Kungsbacka, Sweden/Aranäsgymnasiet)/Daniel Moeller def. HARTMAN/WARD | 6-1
S1:    Billson def. TANG | 6-2, 6-1
S2:    Morgan def. JANG | 6-3, 6-3
S3:    Michaels lost to WINTERS |    5-7, 3-6
S4:    Kelleher def. HILL | 6-3, 6-3
S5:    Seth Smigel (Tiffin, Iowa/Clear Creek Amana) lost to WARD | 1-6, 6-2, (3-10)
S6:    Parker Sprague (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy) lost to HARTMAN | 6(4)-7, 6-2, (2-10)

Luther Results
D1: Billson/Michaels lost to BENVENUTTI/CHHABRA | 4-6
D2: Kelleher/Morgan def. NELSON/GOTTEIN | 7-6(4)
D3: Jonsson/Moeller def. HERNANDEZ HERRERA/STOUGHTON | 7-5
S1: Billson lost to BENVENUTTI | 6-1, 2-6, (6-10)
S2: Morgan def. CHHABRA | 7-6(2), 6-2
S3: Michaels lost to Hernandez Herrera | 3-6, 4-6
S4: Andrew Dumbauld (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) lost to Ramirez Mainou | 4-6, 6-3, (7-10)
S5: Kelleher def. Gottein | 6-2, 6-1
S6: Moeller def. Biro-Moore | 6-2, 7-5

Exhibition vs Luther
D: Sprauge/Smigel def. Althaus/Biro-Moore | 7-5
S: Smigel def. Nelson | 5-3, 2-4, (10-4)
S: Jonsson def. Chhikara | 4-1, 4-1