The University of Wisconsin women's tennis team hopes to be firing on all cylinders this weekend in Evanston as they take part in the Northwestern Invitational. Beginning on Friday, the Badgers will be looking to continue improving their play in just the third tournament of their schedule.
Head coach Brian Fleishman hopes the team will be closer to the caliber of play it has been striving for, such as the tough competition they faced last weekend at the Furman Invitational.
"We want to be at that level with a lot of the teams we competed against," Fleishman said. "But right now we just have to get over that hump."
In last weekend’s invitational, UW sent all eight of its players to the tournament. The Badgers didn't have quite the weekend that they desired, however, as they were up against teams from the Top 50 like Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina. Wisconsin could only pull off wins from four out of 23 singles matches and two of 11 doubles matches.
However, the highlights of the weekend were exceptionally bright. The team's seniors, Morgan Tuttle and Chelsea Nusslock, combined for a doubles win against Big Ten rival Penn State, and Liz Carpenter won her match against the Nittany Lions' Leyla Morzan.
In singles play, Nusslock also went on to beat Lauren McCarthy, continuing the neck-and-neck competition with Penn State. The Nittany Lions ended up edging the Badgers with four wins to three in singles and doubles matches combined.
Carpenter finished seventh in the first flight of singles, while Tuttle and Nusslock finished fourth in the second flight of doubles. Katya Mirnova and Kim Roberts recorded the other singles match victories. Mirnova finished sixth in her flight for her win against Furman's Lauren Tomory, while Roberts finished the highest of any Badger, fourth, after defeating Liberty Sveke of Vanderbilt.
"A lot of our team had trouble finishing off points," Nusslock said of last weekend’s tournament. "I think everyone is still getting back into match mode."
In Evanston this weekend, the UW women will be facing teams from the Big Ten including Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State and host Northwestern. Also competing in the Invitational will be Arkansas, Ole Miss, DePaul, and William and Mary. The Badgers will get a second shot at South Carolina as well, as the Gamecocks will also be in Evanston following their strong performance at the Furman Invitational.
There will be four flights of singles and two flights of doubles at Northwestern. In singles play, Carpenter is set to face Ole Miss, Tuttle will compete against South Carolina, Nusslock has drawn an opponent from Minnesota, and Jobe and Mirnova both will face players from DePaul.
In doubles, Tuttle and Nusslock, Wisconsin's top pair from the previous weekend, will face a pair from host Northwestern. Jobe and Dolan have a duo from DePaul to face, while Mirnova and Roberts wait to play the winner of a matchup between Michigan State and DePaul.
"With all the matches this weekend, I want to come out .500," Coach Fleishman said. "(I think) that'll be a huge improvement over the last two tournaments. I'm expecting everybody to rise to the occasion."
Beyond that, the team emphasized mental preparedness when asked about this weekend's tournament.
"Everyone needs to believe that, you know, we can win some matches here," Carpenter said. "I just hope that everyone mentally gets ready for this weekend."
Overall, the women are confident about their trip to Evanston. The competition looks to be as fierce as at Furman, but no Badger seems especially nervous.
"I want to play to my fullest potential," freshman Jessica Seyferth said. "I'll be happy with competing well, and hopefully getting some wins."
Fleishman is optimistic about the upcoming tournament, the last broad invitational for some time. Following the tournament at Northwestern are the Midwest Regionals in Ann Arbor, Mich.
"They're all doing everything that's asked of them right now," Fleishman said, "We're putting ourselves in the position (to win), which is a huge accomplishment."
