With a pair of losses against No. 50 Notre Dame and Western Michigan, the Wisconsin men’s tennis team fell to 2-3 on the year. The UW women’s tennis team improved to 4-4 with a 4-3 win over Depaul.
In the No. 1 singles match, UW junior Alex Kasarov earned an upset win over No. 68 Matthew Scott 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-5) but Notre Dame won the remaining singles matches.
Four Badgers lost in straight sets, as Notre Dame’s Luis Haddock downed Wisconsin co-captain David Hippee 6-3, 6-1, UW’s Alex Conti lost 6-3, 6-2 against Stephan Bass, UW co-captain Scott Green fell 6-4, 6-4 to Brent D’Amico and freshman Lachezar Kasarov won just two games in a 6-0, 6-2 defeat against Eric Langenkamp.
Wisconsin grabbed a point in doubles when the No. 8-ranked duo of Hippee and Alex Kasarov downed Notre Dame’s D’Amico and Ryan Keckley 9-8 (7-4). The Badgers lost in the No. 2 doubles spot, as Conti and Green fell 8-1 to the Irish’s Haddock and Scott, but Wisconsin’s No. 3 doubles team earned a key win to give the Badgers the point in doubles. To clinch the doubles point, Ward Bortz and Lachezar Kasarov beat Paul Hidaka and Langenkamp 9-8 (7-4).
Despite Bortz and Kasarov’s impressive win, Wisconsin fell to Notre Dame 5-2 Sunday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind. The loss extends the Badgers’ losing streak to two games.
Prior to the Notre Dame defeat, Wisconsin fell 6-1 to Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Mich. Saturday. The only point of the day for the Badgers came in the No. 5 singles match, when Bortz downed WMU’s Erik Lindroos 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.
The Badgers also picked up a win in the No. 2 doubles, as Conti and Green served up an 8-6 victory, but the Broncos earned the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches.
Three Badgers pushed their matches to three sets, but were unable to emerge with a win. In the No. 4 and No. 6 singles, Green and Lachezar Kasarov won the first set, but Notre Dame grabbed a pair of come-from-behind wins and cruised to a commanding victory.
On the women’s side, the Badgers completed a four-meet home stand with a 4-3 win over Depaul at the Nielsen Tennis Center.
“Like I said to our team, we walk in this building and we try to get a win,” head Coach Patti Henderson said. “That’s what we walk in here expecting to do and striving to do. Despite the fact that half the people, at this very moment, don’t feel as good as they would like to feel; the fact is, we got the win for the team.”
With wins in the top two doubles positions, the Badgers earned their first doubles point since their 6-1 win over Northern Illinois Jan. 30.
After Katie McGaffigan took down Marina Parashkevova in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, the Badgers dropped three straight singles matches as Shana McElroy, Lindsay Martin and Teresa Gonzaga fell to the Demons.
Wisconsin rebounded in the final two singles matches of the day, as Kaylan Caiati topped Karen Falduto 6-1, 6-4 and Lexi Goldin battled back from three-love down in the second set to clinch the meet for Wisconsin with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
“I would say today, four out of the six players capitalized on this past weekend (at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Team Championships),” said Henderson. “Lexi Goldin did a great job. Her opponent has played as high as four for DePaul. I think the competition last week prepared (Goldin) for that. She was more used to seeing that.”
With the win, the Badgers ended a four-meet losing streak heading into a road meet with Marquette Wednesday.
“We’re lucky to be in a sport where there are a lot of competitions,” commented Henderson. “So, we’re going to Marquette, wanting to get a win. Hopefully, the people that have carried the momentum well are going to continue to do that, and the other people are going to rebound.”
