After going 1-1 at home last weekend against Michigan State and Michigan, Wisconsin will travel this weekend to take on Big Ten opponent Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue, ranked 35th in the latest polls, is 2-3 in the Big Ten while the Badgers sit at 1-4.
Last year, the Badgers lost to Purdue, but the players and head coach Brian Fleishman agree this year’s team is different.
“I have a lot of confidence in our team,” senior co-captain Katya Mirnova said. “I think it’s going to be a good weekend.”
UW is coming off a weekend that saw the Badgers sweep Michigan State 7-0, a big improvement over last year’s 3-4 loss to the Spartans. Sunday, the Badgers fell 6-1 to eighth-ranked Michigan.
As Wisconsin and Michigan State squared off Saturday, it was the first match of the season played on the outdoor courts at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The Badgers won the doubles point 2-1 in the first matches of the day. As the play turned to the singles courts, the Badgers swept all six singles matches in consecutive sets.
“We showed Michigan State we are a different team than last year,” junior co-captain Jessica Seyferth said.
In 2010, practice has paid off in a big way for the Badgers, who have been practicing twice a day for more than a month.
“We’re working a lot on conditioning and footwork,” Fleishman said. “So if matches get tough, we’re in better shape than the opponent.”
Both Mirnova and Seyferth admitted 7 a.m. practices have been tough, but are good for the team and making a big difference. The team also holds afternoon practices.
“Our movement has improved,” Mirnova said, citing the extra practice time on the courts.
“It’s what we need to do,” Seyferth added, “It’s making us better and stronger, and our fitness level in the tough matches is definitely paying off.”
Although the Badgers carried a lot of momentum from the Spartan sweep, it was not enough to overcome Michigan on Sunday, as Wisconsin dropped the match 6-1.
Mirnova was the only Badger to walk away with a win on Sunday against the Big Ten’s top-ranked Michigan.
Undefeated in conference play this season, the Wolverines came in to Sunday riding an eight-match winning streak. New rankings this week brought them up to No. 3.
Mirnova, with the lone win Sunday, is now 2-3 in Big Ten singles play.
“Katya did extremely well,” Fleishman said of Mirnova’s weekend play.
He added that although Mirnova has played in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots this year, she moved to No. 3 this past weekend.
Fleishman noted Mirnova would likely be playing No. 3 or No. 4 for the remainder of the season. He said even though she was playing well at the top spots, she was simply getting beat by better players. The losses meant not seeing the results of her work.
“Her confidence wasn’t as high as it is now at No. 3 and No. 4,” Fleishman said.
Fleishman said the team also is concentrating on improving its doubles play, something he believes is important for the team’s overall performance in matches.
“When we win our doubles point, we’ve been tending to win the match,” he said.
“That’s a huge point for us,” Seyferth added.
The Badgers picked up the doubles point first on Saturday, before going on to win all six singles matches.
Seyferth said the team will carry a lot of confidence from the Michigan State match into this weekend’s matchup with Purdue. With only one match to focus on this weekend, the Badgers expect to see good results.
While Purdue is just 2-3 in the Big Ten, they are 13-3 overall. Comparatively, the Badgers are 1-4 in the conference and 6-12 record overall.
The Badgers have five matches remaining on the season, all Big Ten matchups, before the Big Ten tournament beginning April 29.
Fleishman said the team is looking forward to this weekend and the remainder of the season. Other than Penn State, all the competitions will be against ranked opponents, but not quite the same caliber as a team like Michigan or Duke, according to Fleishman.
Still, the Badgers see this weekend as an important point in their season.
“A win at Purdue will set the tone and make a statement to other teams,” Seyferth said.
