The Wisconsin Badgers (11-12) came to the end of the road Friday afternoon when they were stopped by three-seed Illinois, 4-1. The loss knocks the UW out of the Big Ten Tournament after advancing to the quarterfinal round with Thursday’s win over Michigan State.
In doubles, Illinois won the two and three positions earning them the doubles point. The No. 1 match was retired at 6-5 with Michelle Webb and Jennifer McGaffigan leading the tandem of Linde Mues and Lindsay Martin. Illinois’ duo is ranked 20th in ITA’s national computer rankings as of Apr. 23.
Ranked 64th in singles J. McGaffigan fell to Mues, 7-5, 7-5. The win gave Wisconsin their only point for the day as Illinois went on to win at the three, four and five slots securing them enough points to take the match. Shana McElroy’s match against No. 111 Tiffany Eklov and Teresa Gonzaga’s match against Leila Cehajic were abandoned. The athletes in both matches had split the first two sets and had begun their third sets when the match was decided.
Moving on to the semifinals are Minnesota and Purdue who will begin at 10 a.m., Saturday; and Northwestern and Illinois who will face off at 2 p.m.
Wisconsin’s women netters quickly advanced to the second round Thursday morning, knocking out Michigan State Spartans with a 4-0 score.
The Badgers met the Spartans in the last match of the regular season and blanked them, 7-0. MSU had changed its lineup for doubles and the three through six singles slots since its last meeting with Wisconsin, but the Badgers still managed to overcome the challenges.
In pairs, Shana McElroy and Lara Vojnov defeated Shelley Brady and Keri Thompson 8-2 at two. Katie McGaffigan and Teresa Gonzaga made fast work of Karen Gustafson and Kate Thomas, 8-0 to secure the doubles point at three. In the interest of time, the one slot retired their match. Linde Mues and Lindsay Martin had been leading Caroling Lay and Jean Willmann, 7-4.
In singles it was the bottom half of the lineup that won it for the team. Martin, Vojnov and Gonzaga all toppled their opponents in two sets. The three points they garnered along with the doubles point was enough to clinch the match for Wisconsin. The first three slots were abandoned, again, in the interest of time. MSU’s Thompson had been leading Mues 6-1, 4-3, but McElroy and McGaffigan were both making positive progress against their competitors.
– compiled from staff reports