SPORTS
Tennis fails to close out Illini
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Monday, March 31, 2003
Sunday morning started on a high note for Wisconsin women’s tennis, but by the end of the team’s match with Illinois, the day had ended with a 4-3 loss. Wisconsin is now 6-9 on the season and 1-3 in the Big Ten Conference. No. 17 Illinois adds another win to its record to reach 10-4 overall, 2-1 Big Ten.
“We started out in doubles across the board. Until 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, we executed as well as we can execute,” head coach Patti Henderson said. “We played very, very, very well. It showed everyone on the team; it showed each of the teammates, each of the coaches that they were there and they were ready.”
Wisconsin was more than ready, taking down the two and three spots of Illinois while only giving up one game. Katie McGaffigan and Shana McElroy swatted out eight straight games to take their match against Eva Choe and Eldina Fazlic. Threes Lindsay Martin and Teresa Gonzaga conceded one game to the Tiffany Eklov/Brianna Knue duo but finished the match 8-1. At one the Badgers had Linde Mues and Lara Vojnov slated against Jennifer McGaffigan and Michelle Webb. The Illini tandem is currently ranked 15th in the nation. With Wisconsin two games from the win, Illinois rallied to win four straight games and tie the set at 6-6. After four more tense games, Illinois claimed the match 9-7.
The Badgers ran into a familiar dilemma in singles. Having won the doubles point, they needed just three wins in singles. Despite a solid Wisconsin effort, only two wins were gathered. Illinois’ McGaffigan played at one versus Mues, and Eklov posted at three against UW’s McGaffigan. The Illinois athletes are currently ranked nationally at 66th and 106th respectively. At five, Vojnov took down Knue in three sets (4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-8). In the six slot, Teresa Gonzaga challenged Michelle Webb and won in two sets, 6-3, 6-4.
“Teri Gonzaga probably played the best match she’s played in a month for us, and if she continues to play at that level, that’s going to make a huge difference,” Henderson said.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, the team is ready to work.
“I told them (that) right now we’ve worked through a lot of things with doubles, we’re playing better in the doubles,” Henderson said. “In singles, we’re just going to work on fine-tuning a few more things individually, so that we have a little more of that inner faith when push comes to shove.”
Next weekend, the team will travel to take on No. 38 Minnesota and Iowa on both teams’ home turfs. The matches are set to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and noon Sunday respectively.
— compiled from staff reports
