Women’s tennis earns weekend sweep

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The No. 66 UW women’s tennis team (10-9, 3-3) earned a pair of victories over the weekend, defeating No. 32 Iowa (11-5, 4-2) 5-2 Saturday and picking up a 7-0 sweep against Minnesota (2-16, 0-7) Sunday.

In a dominant effort, the Badgers took all three singles matches against the Gophers Sunday. In the headliner, the No. 38 pair of Lindsay Martin and Katie MacGaffigan cruised to an 8-4 win over No. 51 Angela Buergis and Nischela Reddy.

McGaffigan also met Buergis in singles play, downing the Gophers’ standout in a three-set marathon, 4-6, 6-4, 10-5.

A change in the UW lineup placed freshman Caitlin Burke playing a spot higher than normal against Ida Malmberg in the No. 4 singles match. Burke was not intimidated by the switch, defeating Malmberg in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (0).

In the No. 5 singles match, Kaylan Caiati blew away Minnesota’s Meghan Wahlin, 6-2, 6-0. Senior Teresa Gonzaga was even more dominant in the No. 6 singles match, blanking Jenna Tellefson 6-0, 6-0.

Prior to the Minnesota match, the Badgers earned an upset win over No. 32 Iowa Saturday.

“Overall, today was a good match,” head coach Patti Henderson said after the win over Iowa. “Everyone competed really well and is feeling good. It gives us a lot of positives for tomorrow’s match.”

The Badgers set the tone early, sweeping the doubles matches. Martin and McGaffigan defeated Iowa’s Megan Racette and Hillary Mintz 8-4 at the No. 1 spot. Gonzaga and Burke continued their undefeated season with an 8-3 win in the No. 2 match, and Caiati and McElroy earned their first win as a pair with an 8-7 (7-5) victory over Iowa pair Chelsea Glynn and Hilary Tyler.

In singles play, No. 85 McGaffigan took down No. 94 Racette in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Another change in the UW lineup moved Burke to the five slot where she beat Deni Alexandrova 6-0, 6-2.

With the win, Burke remains undefeated. The freshman has not lost a set in four singles matches this season.

–compiled from staff reports