Badger women try to keep ball rolling
by Brent Neevel, Tennis Writer
The Wisconsin women’s tennis team looks to keep their winning ways alive this weekend at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The women take on the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday, followed by the Penn State Nittany Lions Sunday.
The team returns home after an impressive trip last weekend. The Badgers knocked off No.32-ranked Iowa Saturday, and went on to blank Minnesota Sunday.
They picked up some steam over the weekend, especially in doubles competition, as Wisconsin did not drop a single doubles match the entire weekend.
Sophomore Katie McGaffigan and junior Lindsay Martin form the No.38-ranked doubles team in the country and will look to carry the Badgers to continued success.
However, the new doubles pairings at No. 2 and No. 3 will also look to help the team capture the doubles point. At No. 2, freshman Caitlin Burke and senior Teresa Gonzaga have found instant success — winning all three matches they have played together. Senior Shana McElroy and freshman Kaylan Caiati have also been blessed with success, having won their past two matches together.
Katie McGaffigan will lead the Badgers in singles competition at No. 1, and will try to improve her No. 85 position in the ITA rankings. The others will also try to hold onto the momentum they gained at Minnesota, where all six singles players came home victorious.
The competition will not be easy, though. The Buckeyes will roll into Madison as the No.63-ranked team in the country, and they are coming off a narrow 4-3 defeat to No.17 Illinois, in which they captured the doubles point from the Illini.
Ohio State will attempt to push their overall record closer to .500, as they look for their fourth win in Big Ten action against three defeats.
The Nittany Lions, on the other hand, have had a much rougher time in Big Ten play. They currently stand at 0-6 on the season in Big Ten play.
The Lions’ record does not make them an easy opponent, however. The aforementioned Illini and the No.55-ranked Purdue Boilermakers can attest to that.
Penn State dropped their match with Illinois by a narrow 4-3 margin. They also fell to the Boilermakers by the same small margin. These excruciatingly close losses show that you cannot sleep on the Lions, or it will come back to bite you in the end.
Wisconsin will try to improve on its 10-9 record on the season, and try to pick up two crucial wins in the conference this weekend to improve to 5-3 in the Big Ten.
