The Wisconsin men’s tennis team (6-10, 0-6) treks up to Minneapolis this weekend to face No. 57-ranked Minnesota (4-9, 3-1) and No. 30-ranked Rice (11-6).
The Badgers have struggled all season, but look to notch their first Big Ten victory after coming close against Penn State last weekend.
“We got to regroup and go up to Minnesota and play hard,” said senior captain Alex Kasarov. “[We have to] get the most out of those two matches. We are playing two tough teams, but if everybody comes out and plays as a team, we’ll have a chance.”
The Gophers and the Owls are a tough draw for a team searching to get back on the winning track, but the Badgers are not about to back down.
“We’ve got two tough matches coming [this weekend],” said head coach Pat Klingelhoets. “We are certainly underdogs. Minnesota is a very good team. Realistically, they are a top-25 team in the country, and Rice is, I think, ranked 32, so on paper we are pretty big underdogs. We got nothing to lose. We’re just going to go in there and play our butts off, and see if we can’t surprise one of those teams.”
Minnesota is led by No. 35-ranked senior captain Avery Ticer, who is also the reigning Big Ten men’s tennis athlete of the week. Following Ticer is a relatively young group, but there is no weak point in the Gopher lineup.
“They’re a really solid, deep team,” said Klingelhoets. “They are good for six spots. We’re just going to have to really battle hard, and just get in there and fight and fight, and hope that we catch a couple of those guys maybe just a little bit off, if we are going to have a realistic chance against them.”
The road does not get any easier for the Badgers with the No. 30-ranked Owls waiting Saturday.
WAC men’s tennis player of the week, Robert Searle, leads a strong Owl squad. The junior is the No. 25-ranked singles player in the nation, and has won 15 of his last 16 matches.
“[Rice] is probably just as good as [Minnesota] is,” said Klingelhoets.
Coming from the south, Rice may have another advantage if weather allows Saturday’s match to be played outdoors.
“It would be a break for us if the weather turned bad, and we got Rice indoors because they are going to be a lot better outdoor team,” said Klingelhoets. “But you know we got to take what happens. If the weather is good, and we’re outdoors, we got to do the best we can. If we happen to get a break, and we go indoors, I think it would certainly help us against them.”
Next weekend Wisconsin stays on the road with a pair of Big Ten matches against rivals Purdue and Indiana.
