This past weekend, the Wisconsin women's tennis team competed at the Furman Fall Classic in Greenville, S.C. During the three-day tournament, the Badgers displayed both brilliance and shortcomings, coming away with a mediocre finish.
On day one, the women notched one singles victory and a pair of doubles wins, which would take them to the semi-finals. Freshman Erin Jobe defeated Gabrielle Solek-Teft from Clemson in straight sets (6-0, 6-0). Jobe and partner Lexi Goldin defeated Penn State's team, Morzan and Shedd, 8-0, in the first round. But in the semi-finals, they were beaten by Tennessee's Harris and Vanderbilt's Ferrell.
Chelsea Nusslock and Morgan Tuttle won their first match, 8-2, when they beat USC's Justine Walsch and Clemson's Kathryn Gerber. The pair continued to succeed when they beat Tennessee's Victoria Jones and Samantha Orlin. In the flight final, however, the pair lost to UNC's team comprised of Jurewitz and Harris.
On the second day of the tournament, in the consolation round, the women achieved four singles victories. Junior Kaylan Caiati defeated Penn State's Andreea Niculescu (3-6, 6-4, 6-2). Nusslock bested Justine Walsch of USC (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) for the second victory. The third win of the day was courtesy of Liz Carpenter who beat Furman University's Natasha Manojlovic in straight sets (6-0, 6-3). Freshman Ali Salomone won the final match of the day for the Badgers when she defeated Jenna Shedd from Penn State, also in straight sets (6-1, 6-1).
On the last day of the tournament, the Badgers accumulated three more singles victories. Freshman Morgan Tuttle defeated senior teammate Lexi Goldin (6-1, 6-2). Caiati managed a win due to her injured opponent, Vanderbilt's Amanda Taylor. With that win, Caiati placed fifth in her flight. Salomone won her second match of the tournament when she beat Solek-Teft in straight sets (6-0, 6-0).
Although the women did not claim many victories in the regular rounds of competition, the Badgers were very competitive in the consolation rounds. Hopefully, the Badgers will improve their success in the ITA All-American Championship later this week in Los Angeles.
'?-uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
