Split decision for Badger men

by Brent Neevel, Tennis Writer

The results for the Wisconsin men’s tennis team this weekend were definitely mixed.

Saturday the Badgers faced the Fighting Illini. Illinois entered the match as defending national champions, possessing a 49-match winning streak.

Wisconsin showed a lot of heart and desire but came up short in the end, falling to the Illini 7-0.

“[We had] good efforts, I mean we had set points at No. 2 singles, we had set points at three singles, we had a good chance at No. 5,” coach Pat Klingelhoets said. “We were in a lot of matches, so it was a good effort.”

Wisconsin did particularly well in doubles where they were forced to alter the line-up a bit.

“With Alex [Conti] being out, you know, we knew we had to make a change anyway, so we just thought we would shake it up a little bit, and see what happened,” Klingelhoets said. “Both those top two teams I thought played real well, so we were pleased.”

The new doubles pair at No. 2, Alex Kasarov and Peter Amundson, knocked off Illinois’ duo of Brian Wilson and Connor Murnighan by a score of 8-6. No. 3 doubles didn’t fare quite as well. Ward Bortz and Mark Weinig fell 3-8 to Ryler DeHeart and Pramod Dahir. Senior captains Scott Green and David Hippee were within a few inches of defeating Illinois’ 15th-ranked combo of Mike Calkins and Chris Martin at number one, and capturing the doubles point for the Badgers. But they fell 7-9.

“We had a chance to win the doubles point, and you know, they have great doubles,” said Klingelhoets.

The Badgers fared about as well in singles. Many of the matches were close, but they just could not inch into he win column.

At No. 1 singles Kasarov dropped a marathon match to 24th-ranked Phil Stolt of Illinois, 6-1, 1-6, 6-7. Green was outlasted 6-7 (7), 3-6. Ryler DeHeart, meanwhile, narrowly defeated Hippee, at three, 6-7 (8), 4-6. At No. 4, 48th-ranked Chris Martin took down Bortz, 2-6, 2-6. Mark Weinig and Peter Amundson also dropped their matches. Weinig falling by a score of 5-7, 3-6, and Amundson 3-6, 4-6.

Wisconsin’s effort, however, carried over into the action Sunday. The Badgers were able to defeat the 75th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers, 5-2, for their first Big Ten win on the season.

“We played a good match, and I thought we played probably as good as we did [against Illinois],” Klingelhoets said. “And it paid off.”

That effort definitely showed in doubles play. Wisconsin swept all three doubles matches to take home the doubles point.

“We’ve been playing good doubles all year. I mean, we’ve won 11 out of 15 doubles points, so our doubles has been good all year,” Klingelhoets said. “We feel we can win the doubles point from anybody, but our problem is then, you know, so many times we won the doubles point and couldn’t convert in singles. And today we finally got over the hump.”

The Badgers were led by the duo of Hippee and Kasarov, who were back playing together on Sunday. The 32nd-ranked pair defeated the tandem of Dave Robinson and Troy Havens 8-4. Green and Amundson knocked off Purdue’s Sounak Chatterjee and Phillip Koziell by an 8-6 margin. Also at No. 3 doubles, Bortz and Weinig outlasted Paul Rose and Scott Warner 8-7 (8).

The Badgers’ success carried over to singles play. Hippee got the Badgers rolling at No. 3 by defeating Chatterjee easily, 6-2, 6-1. Also notching wins for Wisconsin were Kasarov at No. 1 Bortz at four and Weinig at five.

Kasarov endured another long match, this time outlasting Purdue’s Rose 7-6, 2-6, (10-5).

Weinig and Bortz took care of business a little more easily, winning 6-1, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-3 respectively.

Green and Amundson were not as lucky. Green dropped a long match at No. 2 to Havens 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, and Eric Hodgman defeated Amundson 3-6, 2-6.

Wisconsin now embarks on a long road trip. They begin by traveling to face Iowa and Minnesota next weekend.