UW-Whitewater's Humphreys Earns Postseason Tennis Award from ITA

2016 May 25

Jake Humphreys, a native of Kenosha, WI, and member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater tennis program, helped the Warhawks earn seven Division III national and regional awards from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Award winners were announced at the 2016 NCAA Division III Tennis Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.

On the national side, senior Jake Humphreys (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper) collected the ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award and assistant coach Byron Balkin was tabbed Wilson/ITA Women's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Freshman Gabi Kitchell (Wausau, Wis./D.C. Everest) was selected ITA Central Region Women's Rookie of the Year.

Balkin also garnered both Men's and Women's Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year accolades, and head coach Frank Barnes was tabbed Men's Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year. Humphreys was also the Central Region winner of the ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award.

A three-year All-American, Humphreys is the reigning United States Tennis Association/ITA Midwest Regional doubles champion and was the 2013 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional singles champion. He is a three-time NCAA singles qualifier, reaching the national quarterfinals in 2015 and the second round in 2014, and a 2014 NCAA doubles quarterfinalist.

Humphreys, who will compete in the singles tournament starting Thursday, is currently a graduate student pursuing a master's in accounting. He is a three-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll, a 2014-15 ITA Scholar-Athlete and a 2015-16 UW-Whitewater Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete. Humphreys is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a volunteer coach and participant in "Reading With the Warhawks".

Kitchell has enjoyed a masterful first season with the Warhawks. She earned a bid to this week's NCAA singles tournament after finishing the season with a 41-1 record, with her only loss coming against teammate Megan Humphreys in the singles final at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional in the fall. Kitchell has won 27 consecutive matches entering the week.

Balkin, in his second season as an assistant, helped both the men's and women's teams reach the Round of 16 in the NCAA Team Tournament in 2016. The women have won each of the last two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and nine straight overall. Balkin works tirelessly on player development, working with student-athletes in individual practice sessions and in video review of matches.

Barnes is in his 14th season at the helm of the men's program. In 2016, the Warhawks reached the third round of the NCAA Team Tournament for the second time in program history and achieved the program's highest-ever ITA national ranking at No. 21 in April. UW-Whitewater also wrapped up its 10th 20-win season in the last 11 years, all achieved under Barnes.

In the men's draw, Humphreys begins play Wednesday at 8 a.m. Central Time against sixth-seeded Paxton Deuel of Trinity (Texas). With a win, his second match would be at 12 p.m. against the winner of the Ari Smolyar (Middlebury)/Abhishek Alla (Carnegie Mellon) first-round match.

On the women's side, Kitchell will face No. 3 seed Ria Gerger of Middlebury on Thursday at 10 a.m. With a victory, her second-round match will take place at 1:30 p.m. against either Ashnaa Rao of Johns Hopkins or Natalie Etchegaray of Redlands.

Junior Megan Humphreys opens tournament play Thursday against Brooke Donnelly of Washington & Lee at 10 a.m. She would take on either No. 1 Juli Raventos of Williams or Kayla Casey of East Texas Baptist in Round 2 on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

Humphreys and sophomore Bridgid McGuire open play in the doubles tournament against Emory's Bridget Harding/Katarina Su on Thursday at 3 p.m. With a win, they'll face either No. 2 Juli Raventos/Linda Shin of Williams or Natalie Etchegaray/Lauren Villanueva of Redlands in the second round Friday at 3:30 p.m.