The No. 35 UW women's tennis team is on a roll so far this season. It came from behind in both of its last two matches-and last night, freshman Nicole Beck showed what coming from behind was all about.
The Badgers were knotted at 3-3 from wins by sophomores Caitlin Burke, Kaylan Caiti and Lindsay Martin. The duel came down to the No. 5 singles match between No. 28 Notre Dame's Sarah Jane Connelly and Beck.
Down five games to four to Connelly, Beck mounted a superb comeback.
\I was just like, 'It just wasn't going to happen.' I never thought I was going to lose,"" said Beck. ""It was exciting, to be honest with you, it wasn't really that mentally tough.""
Beck certainly had to fight hard to get her win. In the final set alone there were 13 deuces while in the 10th game Beck fought back from being down triple match point to send the set into the 11th game.
When Beck went up six games to five, Connelly launched a shot to the back left corner that landed just wide of the line. Connelly spent a moment arguing the first point of what would be the final game but to no avail.
""I saw it was wide,"" Beck said, ""and I knew she was going to freak out about it. Obviously I just stayed tougher than she did.""
Normally a match that lasts as long as this one did would tire one of the two players out.But in this match, it seemed as though each player was able to battle through until the end of the match without losing much zip on their shots.
The women's team has been stellar of late. The win against Notre Dame increases its record to 2-1-0 in the Big Ten and 9-4-0 overall. The team has won six consecutive matches and eight of their last 10.
The Badgers' No. 2 singles player, Burke, has been on a roll as well. In fact, in the last 10 matches, when Burke wins, the Badgers win.
She has won her last six matches as well as eight of her last 10, identical to the team's stats. One of her two losses in that stretch was to the No. 4 player in the country, Cristelle Greir of Northwestern.
""I think we're playing really well coming beating Michigan,"" said Burke. ""And you know, Notre Dame who is a top-ranked team so it's really exciting.""
Some of the Badgers' success can certainly be attributed to head coach Patti Henderson who has the team playing together and winning close games in big situations.
""They're not going to give up,"" Henderson said. ""When their backs are against the wall they're going to keep fighting. You know, comparing Beck to her close matches in the fall and now, she did a phenomenal job holding up in that third set.""
The Badgers will make the trip to Penn State to play the first of eight consecutive matches with Big Ten teams. The Badgers are currently tied for fourth in the conference.
