Sports

After 23 remarkable seasons leading the Warhawk men’s and women’s tennis programs at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Head Coach Frank Barnes has announced his retirement, marking the end of an era defined by excellence, mentorship and a profound impact on student-athletes both on and off the court.  

“Frank is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and UW-Whitewater,” said Director of Athletics Ryan Callahan. “He has turned UW-Whitewater into the best public Division III tennis program in the country and has worked tirelessly to improve the tennis facilities and overall quality of the program during his tenure. I am forever grateful for Frank’s leadership and support in advancing Warhawk athletics.”  

Coach Barnes has been at the helm of the Warhawk men’s tennis program since 2002 and the UWW women’s team since 2003. Throughout his tenure, Barnes has guided UW-Whitewater through one of the toughest Division III schedules in the Midwest – a slate that features Division I and II opponents, as well as some of the top Division III institutions in the region each year.  

Still, the Warhawks have been dominant under Barnes. Under his leadership, the tennis program has become a model of consistency and competitiveness. The UWW men have not lost a conference match since 2010. Meanwhile, the women’s program had a win streak that eclipsed 130 matches against WIAC opponents. The Warhawk women have won 18 consecutive league titles. These feats are even more impressive considering UW-Whitewater had not won a conference championship in the 13 years prior to Barnes taking the helm.  

UW-Whitewater has also increased its national presence – specifically since 2007. The Warhawk women have participated in the NCAA Team Championship the last 17 seasons while the men have made the tournament 16 times in that span. UW-Whitewater has advanced to the Sweet 16 eleven times since 2007. Multiple singles and doubles players – 47 in fact – have qualified for the NCAA Individual Championship and/or Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Championship in that timeframe. Both programs and additional Warhawk individuals have held national rankings in the ITA polls over the last 15 seasons. Barnes has coached Warhawk tennis players to 33 All-America honors during his tenure.  

Beyond competitive achievements on the court, Barnes stresses academic success as a pillar of the tennis program. The men’s and women’s teams have been consistently recognized as an ITA All-Academic Team over the last decade. Individual Warhawks have continually been recognized as ITA Scholar Athletes – achieving a grade point average of at least 3.5. He has coached 11 Academic All-Americans, 12 WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar Athletes of the Year and 76 UW-Whitewater Chancellor Scholar Athletes. 

Due to the success of the UW-Whitewater tennis program and Barnes’ engagement in the tennis community, he has been honored on numerous occasions from the conference to the national stage. Barnes was named the ITA National Coach of the Year in 2023-24. He earned Regional Coach of the Year honors from the ITA in both 2024 and 2016. In 2010, Barnes was named the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) National College Coach of the Year across all divisions. He was selected as the PTR Wisconsin Member of the Year in 2009. Barnes is a 10-time WIAC Women’s Coach of the Year, a four-time New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Coach of the Year and was the 2025 WIAC Men’s Coach of the Year this season. Barnes was named the WIAC All-Time Women’s Tennis Coach as part of the league’s centennial celebration in 2012. For his outreach and community presence, Barnes received the Midwest United States Tennis Association (USTA)/ITA Community and Campus Outreach Award twice, the USTA Midwest Rollie Mueller Presidents Award and was selected as the K-Swiss National Coach of the Year twice as a teaching professional.  

Barnes has been an active member in the tennis community throughout his career. He speaks regularly at tennis conventions across the Midwest. Barnes is currently serving on the Wisconsin Tennis Association Collegiate Committee, he previously chaired the ITA Men’s Central Region Tennis Ranking Committee and had served on the men’s and women’s ITA and NCAA Regional Ranking Committees multiple times. In addition, he has served on the USTA/WTA Collegiate and Junior Development Committees and both the men’s and women’s Midwest ITA Regional Tournament Committees.  

Through his fervent commitment to growing the sport, Barnes has created one of the top summer tennis camps in the nation as the Warhawk Tennis Camps Director. He has spent over 20 years hosting numerous camps that welcome over 700 campers to UW-Whitewater each summer.  

Barnes’, a University of Wisconsin (Madison) alumnus, earned his Master’s Degree in Professional Development with an emphasis in Health, Human Performance, Recreation and Coaching from UW-Whitewater. After working in the professional sector for a number of years, Barnes returned to Whitewater in 1998 as a teaching professional before taking the head coaching position.  

“I’ve felt so honored to have been part of the Warhawk Family and Athletic Department that has such an incredible tradition and reputation of success,” said Coach Barnes. “That success stems from great leadership and support from the Athletic Directors I’ve been lucky enough to work with, especially our current Director of Athletics Ryan Callahan and the entire administrative team leading this incredible institution. I’ve been lucky to have worked with hundreds of impressive student-athletes and incredible assistant coaches and support staff in 23 years as head coach. They have all helped to form the Warhawk Tennis Family for me and my family.”  

“It’s not about the championships, it’s about the relationships … but the championships were pretty fun,” added Barnes.  

Although Barnes’ last official day is in August, he will continue with the program in a volunteer capacity and continue to have a major role with Warhawk Tennis Camps in the future. 

Editor’s note: The press release is from UW-W Athletics.

The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3Baseball released their annual All-Region teams for NCAA Division III Baseball this afternoon.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team, a member of Region IX, earned numerous accolades, including two major awards from the two programs.

Aaron Holland (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North), Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South), and Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) earned First Team honors for both ABCA and D3Baseball.

Max Huseboe (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) was a First Team selection to the D3Baseball All-Region Team. He adds to his WIAC Pitcher of the Year accolade, earning D3Baseball’s All-Region IX Pitcher of the Year award

In addition to a First Team ballot, Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) was named the Position Player of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Scolan was named the WIAC Position Player of the Year 

Holland, the Warhawks starting catcher, appeared in 49 out of the 50 games played so far this season. The sophomore leads the team in hits with 84, the third most in a single Warhawk season.

Cootway has appeared in every game for the Warhawks, playing infield, outfield, and primarily designated hitter. Cootway is second in the Warhawk Single Season Record Book with his 18 home runs in 2025.

Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) and Cade Hansen (New Braunfels, Texas/Smithson Valley) were named to the ABCA All-Region First Team, while picking up Second Team honors from D3Baseball. 

Thies has been a pivotal part of the Warhawk offense and showcased his skills with a two home-run game against UW-Oshkosh in the NCAA Super Regional.

Hansen makes up part of the Warhawk pitching rotation, the junior is 10-1 record and has three complete games during the 2025 season.

Logan Eisenbarth (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) rounded out the Warhawks selections. Eisenbarth was selected to the ABCA Second Team, with Frank earning Third Team All-Region honors.

The Warhawks are finishing preparations and leave for Eastlake, Ohio, tomorrow morning. UW-Whitewater will face Trinity (Texas) in the first round of the NCAA Division III World Series on Friday, May 30th at 8 PM (ET).

Editor’s note: This article appeared on the UW-W Athletics website.

By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

Winona, Minn. – The Warhawks’ phenomenal 2025 campaign came to a close in the NCAA Division III Super Regional hosted by Saint Mary’s University Friday. UW-Whitewater fell in the opener 4-0 and the if necessary game 7-1 to wrap up the season with a 39-8 record. 

UW-Whitewater opened the season on a 15-0 run. In Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, UWW went 12-2 to secure the program’s 16 regular season conference title. Receiving an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, UW-Whitewater made its 25th appearance in the postseason, third trip to the Super Regionals and the Warhawks’ tallied win #800 for Head Coach Brenda Volk along the way. 

Friday saw the host school take an early lead as the Cardinals utilized small ball to push a single run across. SMU would add two more in the sixth and another in the seventh. Meanwhile, the Warhawks bats just couldn’t gather momentum. UWW was making good contact, registering six hits in the contest, but Saint Mary’s always seemed to stifle the momentum quickly. 

Six different Warhawks recorded hits in the game while Brooke Hock suffered the loss in the circle to move to 7-2 on the season. 

Game two was a little deja vu as the Warhawks won the coin flip for home team and SMU took an early lead on a solo homerun in the top of the first. They added two in the top of the second and a few more in the top of the seventh. 

The Cardinal defense held the Warhawks at bay with some fantastic defensive plays, robbing multiple shots that looked to be at least base knocks with sliding, diving and leaping catching. 

True to form, UW-Whitewater did not quit as Dani Peshia blasted a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, but SMU held on for the win. 

All of the UWW hits came from different Warhawks in the game. Josie Hammen suffered the loss to move to 18-3 on the season. 

In a season that featured big win streaks, thrilling comeback victories and numerous gritty team wins, Friday was the first time UW-Whitewater had fallen in back-to-back games across their 47-game 2025 campaign. 

Updated 5/23/25 @ 5:11 p.m. to correct the day of the first game to Thursday and the second game to Friday.

By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

Winona, Minn. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team opened the NCAA Division III Winona Super Regional with a 5-3 win over host Saint Mary’s on Thursday. The win marked the 800th on Head Coach Brenda Volk’s career at UWW. 

The Warhawks set the tone early. Bella Eggert hit a rocket down the left field line, beating the third baseman for a leadoff single. Kiarra Kostroski laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Eggert to third and Emma Giese followed with a single to center to put runners on the corners. Grace Wickman blasted a deep ball straight back up the middle that even the center fielder turned to watch sail over the fence. 

The Cardinals, a small ball style team, plated two in the bottom of the first courtesy of three base knocks. 

That score held until the fourth when UWW got the offense going with two outs. Claire Kohnle sparked the bats with a hard single through the left side. JJ Jakosalem followed with a soft liner that fell just inside the foul line in shallow left field. Kaitlyn Weidemann’s single to right field had Kohnle cruising around the bases. Volk sent her and Kohnle slid to the backside of home. The catcher put the tag on, but the umpire was signaling for obstruction. Kohnle’s run counted on the call to give UWW a 4-2 advantage. 

The top of the seventh saw more two-out offense from the Warhawk bats. Eggert singled to center. The speedster was flying around the bases to score on Kostroski’s double that went off the left fielder’s glove near the wall. The run gave UW-Whitewater a three-run cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh. 

After a leadoff single down the left field line, Weidemann nearly robbed a second base hit. A blooper just over the infield toward the right field line had the second baseman laying out but it was just out of her reach. Brooke Hock took over for Josie Hammen in the circle and got out of the inning with three consecutive groundouts. 

Eggert paced the offense with a 2-3 day at the plate while Wickman tallied three RBI on the bomb. 

Hammen got the start and the win tossing six innings to improve to 18-2 on the season. Hock shutout the Cardinals in the final inning for her eighth save of the season. 

The Warhawks return to the diamond in Winona tomorrow for game two of the three-game series at 1 PM on Friday. A third game will start at 3:30 Friday if necessary.

Editor’s note: This press release was received from UW-Whitewater.

As was previously announced on The Whitewater Banner, the UW-W Softball Team won their regional contest and is playing in the Super Regional in Winona, MN.

• Winona, Minnesota – Saint Mary’s
  • Thursday, May 22
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Game 1: Wis.-Whitewater vs. Saint Mary’s, 3 p.m.
  • Friday, May 23
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Game 2: Wis.-Whitewater vs. Saint Mary’s, 2 p.m.
    • Game 3 (if necessary):  Wis.-Whitewater vs. Saint Mary’s, 4:30 p.m.
• The games should be livestreamed here.