Following a 5-0 start to the season, the University of Wisconsin men’s tennis team looks to keep its undefeated season alive at the ITA Midwest Team Indoor Championship at the University of Virginia.
Presenting a tough challenge for Wisconsin will be the Cavaliers, who are the No. 1 seed at the tournament and are also undefeated in the spring season.
Before the Badgers have the opportunity to face Virginia in the tournament, they will have to get by East Tennessee State. Although the Buccaneers are coming off a 6-1 loss to Tennessee, they are ranked 39th in the country. At the top position for East Tennessee State, senior Enrique Olivares, ranked ninth in the country in singles, will be a tough challenge. Even though the Badgers would like to face the Cavaliers in the championship match, they are not looking past the Bucs.
“For us we’re just taking it one match at a time,” head coach Greg Van Emburgh said. “Hopefully we can come out on top.”
The top singles position will be Moritz Bauman, a junior from Inzlingen, Germany. Baumann has won every match during the season en route to an unblemished record for Wisconsin. If the Badgers hope to have success at the ITA Midwest Team Indoor Championship, Baumann will have to continue his play.
“Moritz has really taken a new role on our team,” Van Emburgh said. “He really wants to take a lot of pride in this year’s performance of our team, and he’s done a great job so far.”
In addition to Bauman, the whole team is hoping to continue its solid play into this weekend.
“I think the great thing with our team is all of our guys on the team can play their positions really well,” Van Emburgh said. “I think down our lineup the guys are really excited about this season and we’re going to have a great showing.”
Also seeking to continue its success is the Wisconsin women’s team. Coming off a strong performance against Eastern Michigan, in which the Badgers won all seven matches, they will now host Northern Illinois. Marking their third straight match at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium, the Badgers hope to improve their record to 2-1.
“It is really nice to have another home match,” freshman Angela Chupa said. “At the end of the day when everyone is tired physically, mentally, and emotionally, it’s nice to be able to come home and relax and prepare for the next day. We traveled a lot in the fall, and so it’s great I finally have the chance to play at home.”
Leading the way for the Badgers will be Chupa, who recorded the Badgers only victory in a 6-1 loss to DePaul and won her second match of the season against Eastern Michigan.
“So far this year, the key to my success has been staying tough throughout the entire match,” Chupa said. “I’ve also been trying to be a tougher competitor on the court, which has helped me focus more on key points in my matches.”
Aiding the Badgers will be the inexperience of Northern Illinois. Although Wisconsin will be playing their third match of the spring season, Friday’s match will be the first for Northern Illinois. The early spring matches for Wisconsin should benefit them against the Huskies.
“I feel the team has really worked hard over the past few weeks,” Chupa said. “Our matches last week indicated what we need to continue to improve on, so we have been working on those things since then.”
