The UW-W women's tennis team wrapped up competition in the Warhawk-Panther Invitational with singles play Saturday. Weather forced competition indoors for the second day in a row but all flights were able to finish Saturday afternoon as scheduled. The invitational includes six scholarship teams including four NCAA Division I and two NCAA Division II institutions. UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Northern Illinois University compete at the DI level and Ferris State University and Grand Valley State are classified as DII institutions. UW-Whitewater was the only school competing in the invite that does not grant student-athletes athletic scholarships.

Complete results
Complete brackets

Alexandra Bayliss (Sheboygan/North) and Erika Williams (Burnsville, MN/Lakeville South) led UW-W in singles play Saturday finishing fourth in #1 and #3 singles respectively. Caitlin Fitzgerald (Loves Park, IL/Belvidere North) took third in the #7 singles bracket after defeating Noel Peck of UW-Green Bay 6-0, 6-1 in the third place match. Fifteen Warhawks competed in singles competition over the course of the two-day invitational. Seven Warhawk doubles partnerships took to the court Friday.

UW-W has the ITA Small College Championships listed next on the schedule. The event is set for October 10-13 in Fort Meyers, Florida. Megan Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper) received an automatic bid into the championship by winning the ITA Midwest Regional singles title in September. 

Friday Recap
The UW-Whitewater women's tennis team opened day one of the Warhawk/Panther Invitational on the Wangerin Tennis Courts near Williams Center with singles play but were forced to take competition indoors with weather issues. Teams split squads to head to three different venues to complete doubles play Friday afternoon and evening. The singles competition is scheduled to resume Saturday morning on the Wangerin Tennis Courts. Schedule and location changes may arise with poor weather. Seven teams are competing in the invitational, six of the teams are scholarship schools, meaning athletic scholarships can be granted to student-athletes. Four schools participating in the invite are NCAA Division I institutions including UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Northern Illinois University. Ferris State University and Grand Valley State are NCAA Division II institutions.

Friday Results

Alexandra Bayliss (Sheboygan/North) and Erika Williams (Burnsville, MN/Lakeville South) advanced to the semifinals of the #1 and #3 singles brackets respectively to lead UW-Whitewater individually. Bayliss won her first round matchup 6-1, 6-4 over Stephanie Londre of UW-GB. Williams topped Gabby Demchenko of FSU 6-4, 4-6 (10-7) to advance to the semis. 

The duo of Williams and Megan Humphreys (Kenosha/Tremper) took fourth in the #2 doubles draw after winning the opening round against NJIT's team of Martina Tripcovici and Hannelore MacDonald 8-4. Williams/Humphreys fell to NIU's duo of Haley Dekkinga and Steph McDonald 8-4 in the third place match. Two Warhawk partnerships faced off in the third place match in the #3 doubles bracket. Abby Day (Hartford/Hartford) and Hillary Franzen (Wausau/West) bested their teammates Rachel Siemon (Crystal Lake, IL/South) and Brooke Hendricks (Sterling, IL/Sterling) 8-5 for third. 

The invitational will conclude tomorrow with singles play.


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