Chicago, Ill. - With the NACC tournament championships in the rear-view mirror for the Illinois Tech Men's and Women's tennis teams, the attention now shifts to opening-round play in the NCAA Division III Tennis Championships for both squads.
On Thursday May 12th, both teams will begin play in the NCAA tournament. The women's team will start things off in Whitewater, Wisconsin at 9am, against the host University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks. The men's team will follow at 10am, when they face Greenville at host University of Chicago's tennis courts.
Wisconsin-Whitewater is no stranger to the women's team. The Scarlet Hawks faced the Warhawks in Whitewater back on September 1st, and they were handed a 9-0 defeat in their third match of the young season, at that time.
"They are definitely a formidable team and a big team(in terms of number of players)" said Head Coach Kris Powell. "They beat both us and Edgewood on the same day and time by splitting their team" Powell continued.
Indeed, the Warhawks have qualified for the NCAAs 14 years running, and are ranked #36 nationally for Division III. Still, Powell likes where his team is at.
"I'm really excited about how their confidence has risen and they are starting to really believe in themselves. If we compete like we've been doing in the last couple of matches we should be able to give (UW-Whitewater) a run for their money" said Powell.
This is the first NCAA berth for the women's program. With multiple seniors on the squad, they will want to put their best foot forward while continuing to help build the culture of success that has been developed.
The men's team on the other hand will be making their third consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. They lost in the first round in 2019. After the pandemic wiped out the 2020 campaign, the Scarlet Hawks advanced to the second round in 2021. They will be looking to continue that progress on Thursday.
They will be facing a Greenville squad that went 19-2 on the season. If that isn't enough, the Panthers number three singles player is named Clark Kent. Although Powell does not have a lot of first-hand knowledge of the Panthers squad that is located 55 miles west of St. Louis, he does know they faced a couple common opponents in Wabash and Concordia-Wisconsin this past season, and both the Panthers and the Scarlet Hawks defeated those teams by similar scores. "It should be a very close first round (match)" Powell said.
"Going into the match, I like how gritty and tenacious we are in singles, but my team understands the importance of doubles and really getting off to a good start" said Coach Powell. As a point of reference, the Hawks fell behind 2-1 to Concordia-Wisconsin in the NACC Championship match after doubles play, but they were able to sweep singles play to take the title. "How we start in doubles is going to be crucial" Powell said.
Powell thinks the team's prior post-season experience could provide an advantage on Thursday.
"They (the Scarlet Hawks) have prior experience playing in the tournament and I think that will help with nerves once they settle in" said Powell.