Wisconsin beat the Spartans at the Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing, Mich. The loss dropped Michigan State’s record to 9-7 and 1-3 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin improved to 10-3 and 5-0 in the Big Ten. The Badgers are off to their best overall start since 1995-96 when that team went 11-2 in its first 13 matches and finished the Big Ten season 13-0 for first place and the Big Ten Championship.
The Spartans took the early 1-0 lead, taking the doubles point with victories at one and two doubles. MSU’s Mandy Caldemeyer and Keri Thompson took the Badgers’ top duo of Linde Mues and Lara Vojnov to a tiebreaker before winning 9-8 (5). The lone win at doubles was by Lindsay Martin and Katie McGaffigan who improved their record to 10-1 this season, and they continue to lead the team in doubles victories.
The Badgers rallied to take four of the six singles matches and record their 10th win this season. The key match was at No. 5 singles where senior Katie Dougherty came back from a 6-1 loss in the first set to win the second and third sets (6-4 and 7-5, respectively) to secure the win for UW. Shana McElroy won her 10th singles match of the season to improve to 10-3, while the Badgers’ No. 86 Vanessa Rauh lost just her fourth match and is 9-4 as No. 1 singles on the year.
Wisconsin plays at Marquette this Wednesday, March 20 in non-conference action and then leaves for spring break in San Diego, Calif., March 23-30. The next home matches for the Badgers are on April 6-7 when Big Ten foes Indiana and Purdue come to Nielsen Tennis Stadium.