After an upset win over fourth-seeded Illinois Friday, the fifth-seeded Wisconsin women's tennis team fell in the semifinal round to top seed Northwestern Saturday at the Big Ten Tournament in East Lansing, Michigan.
Despite a strong start in doubles against the Big Ten powerhouse and nationally fifth-ranked Wildcats (23-2 overall), the Badgers (15-8) were unable to gain another point and fell 4-1.
Highlighting the No. 38 Badgers doubles win was the improbable victory of senior Katie McGaffigan and sophomore Caitlin Burke over Wildcat senior Audra Cohen and junior Cristelle Grier, the No. 1 doubles pair in the land. The Badgers were able to hand the Wildcat duo their first loss since Feb. 3 and just their second of the year. Senior Lindsay Martin and sophomore Kaylan Caiati won in the second flight to seal the doubles point for the Badgers.
While the loss against Northwestern was a disappointment, the Badgers can look back on the good things they did against the No. 53 Illini (12-11 overall) heading into the NCAA tournament.
In what head coach Patti Henderson said was simply \a great college tennis match,"" the Badgers jumped out early to take the doubles point 2-1 behind strong performances from freshmen pair Nicole Beck and Chelsea Nusslock, who won 8-2, and Martin and Caiati, who notched a 8-4 victory.
Beck returned to singles for the first time in two matches and jump-started the Badgers play by topping Illini sophomore Emily Wang 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 5 position. The Illini tied the score at 2-2 by taking the third flight, and the Badgers found themselves in danger of falling behind when Caiati dropped the first set, 6-0. But the sophomore responded in a big way by winning the next two 6-4, 6-3 to take the match.
""We were able to get a couple tough singles matches,"" Henderson said. ""After falling quickly in the first set, Kaylan kept her head up and kept plugging at it.""
The Badgers then clinched the win by taking the No. 6 singles match behind the stellar play of postseason rookie Nusslock, who won 6-4, 6-3.
The Badgers will now await the announcement of the NCAA tournament seedings, which will be released Wednesday.
