Sunday, September 29
Jake Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper) captured the singles title and Byron Balkin (Madison/Memorial) and Ben Shklyar (Deerfield, IL/Deerfield) paired to take the doubles crown at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Sunday in St. Peter, Minnesota.  The three men advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, held October 10-13 at the Three Oaks Tennis Center in Fort Myers, Florida

Humphreys, a sophomore, knocked out the number one seed, Noah Sprinkle of Coe, Sunday morning before topping the nine seed, Jack Michael of Carroll, in the finals 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.  Humphreys, the sixth seed overall, knocked out the number one, four and nine seeds in his final three matches of the tournament.

Balkin and Shklyar topped Mya Smith Dennis and Motasem Al-Houni of Gustavus Adolphus in the finals 6-3, 6-3.  The tandem from Gustavus was the overall second seed while Balkin and Shklyar were the top seed.  This is the second USTA/ITA Midwest Regional doubles title for Balkin.  He paired with Mitch Osborne (Crystal Lake, IL/Central) in 2012 to take the title.

An interesting side note ... Jake Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper)' sister Megan, a freshman on the UW-W women's tennis team, became the second Warhawk women's tennis player to win the USTA/ITA Women's Midwest Regional Singles Championship two weeks ago.

Besides the USTA/ITA Small College Championships in October, the men have completed competition this fall.  Their season resumes on February 1 when they travel to DeKalb, Illinois for a dual with Northern Illinois.


Saturday, September 28
Jake Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper) advanced to the semifinals in singles while Byron Balkin (Madison/Memorial) and Ben Shklyar (Deerfield, IL/Deerfield) advanced to the finals in doubles at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Saturday in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Humphreys derailed the four seed, Ramesh Karki of Luther, in the quarterfinals 6-1, 6-0 and will face top seeded Noah Sprinkel of Coe on Sunday at 9 am. The other semifinal features Mya Smith-Dennis of Gustavus and Jack Michael of Carroll.

Brian Klein (Brookfield/East) got knocked out in the final eight by Sprinkel in a tough three set match and Shklyar went down in the same round at the hands of ninth seeded Jack Michael.

Balkin and Shklyar, the number one doubles seed, topped Andres Saenz and Marcel Gyswyt of Gustavus Adolphus 8-6 in the semis and will face the number two seeded tandem of Mya Smith Dennis and Motasem Al-Houni of Gustavus on Sunday at 2 pm.

The Small College (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College) singles and doubles champions from the USTA/ITA Regional Championships will advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, held October 10-13 at the Three Oaks Tennis Center in Fort Myers, Florida.


Friday, September 27
UW-Whitewater has four men in the round of sixteen in singles, and three teams in the round of sixteen in doubles at the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional this weekend.

Ben Shklyar (Deerfield, IL/Deerfield), Jake Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper), Brian Klein (Brookfield/East) and Byron Balkin (Madison/Memorial) all advanced to the round of sixteen with wins on Friday. Shklyar, the number two seed overall, Humphreys, the six seed, and Balkin, the eight seed, each won two matches on Friday to advance. Klein won three matches including a win over fifth seeded Grant Leisner of Gustavus Adolphus.

In doubles, Balkin/Shklyar, Kevin Friend (Deerfield, IL/Deerfield)/Humphreys, and Cam Laktash (Crystal Lake, IL/South)/Klein also advanced to the round of sixteen. Laktash and Klein put in the work to win two matches on Friday while the other two tandems received a first round bye and only had to win one match.

The Small College (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College) singles and doubles champions from the USTA/ITA Regional Championships will advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, held October 10-13 at the Three Oaks Tennis Center in Fort Myers, Florida.


Thursday, September 26
The UW-Whitewater men's tennis team is headed to the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional this weekend. The Small College (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College) singles and doubles champions from the USTA/ITA Regional Championships will advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, held October 10-13 at the Three Oaks Tennis Center in Fort Myers, Florida. The USTA/ITA National Small College Championships are comprised of the eight regional champions (and/or at-large selections) from NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community Colleges. Twenty-three teams are represented at the Midwest Regional hosted by Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, Minnesota.

In the singles draw, the Warhawks grabbed three of the top eight seeds. Ben Shklyar (Deerfield, IL/Deerfield) is the number two seed, Jake Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper) is sixth, and Byron Balkin (Madison/Memorial) is the eighth seed. Shklyar earned a first round bye and will face the winner of CJ Ray (Grinnell) and Erik Johnson (Carleton). Humphreys and Balkin also have first round byes.

On the doubles side, the tandem of Shklyar and Balkin earned the top overall seed. Balkin paired with Mitch Osborne (Crystal Lake, IL/Central) in 2012 to win the doubles championship. Jake Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper) and Kevin Friend (Deerfield, IL/Deerfield) will also team up for the Warhawks and are seeded sixth.

The Warhawks have several others competing in the Midwest Regional this weekend. In singles Rithwik Rajshekhar Raman (Chennai, Tamil Nadu-India/SAIDS British Education), Brian Klein (Brookfield/East), Matt Bisbee (Chicago, IL/Marist), Daniel Etman, Scott Butler (Eagan, MN/Eagan), Cam Laktash (Crystal Lake, IL/South) and Michael Schnarr (Madison/Memorial) will give a crack at the title, while in doubles the pairs of Butler and Marty Beck, Laktash and Klein, and Raman and Etman will go for the crown.

The host, Gustavus Adolphus, has put together a website for the event. Visit the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional website for up-to-date information throughout the weekend.



AZ