The women’s tennis season came to an end Friday, one day removed from the Badgers’ first-round win in the Big Ten Tournament. UW quickly advanced to the second round of postseason action, beating Michigan State 4-0. The win gave the Badgers the opportunity to take on host school and No. 3 seed Illinois on Friday.

Against MSU, UW’s Shana McElroy and Lara Vojnov defeated Shelley Brady and Keri Thompson 8-2 at No. 2. Katie McGaffigan and Teresa Gonzaga made fast work of Karen Gustafson and Kate Thomas, 8-0 to secure the No. 3 doubles point. Linde Mues and Lindsay Martin had been leading Caroline Lay and Jean Willman, 7-4 at No. 1, but forfeited their match because the Badgers had already secured a team victory.

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 forfeited, 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.

The Badgers’ season came to an end Friday afternoon when they were stopped by three-seed Illinois, 4-1. The loss knocked UW out of the Big Ten tournament.

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 April 23.

Ranked 64th in singles, J. McGaffigan fell to Mues, 7-5, 7-5. The win gave Wisconsin its only point for the day as Illinois went on to win at the three, four and five slots to secure 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. UW’s loss ends its 2003 season with a record of 11-12.

— compiled from staff reports