The UW women's tennis team looks to win its second-consecutive match of the spring Saturday. The No. 34 Badgers (1-0) play host to No. 54 Western Michigan (1-2) this Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
In their first match of the spring, UW easily swept Northern Illinois (0-1), winning all matches to trounce the Huskies 7-0. The Badgers cruised in the doubles matches and won each singles match in straight sets. They were also helped along by two forfeits at the No. 3 doubles slot and at No. 6 singles.
The Badgers were led by the No. 1 doubles duo of junior Caitlin Burke and freshman Liz Carpenter, who took down the Huskies' tandem 8-0. In singles, Burke did not give up a single game at the No. 1 spot, taking out Dora Delgadillo 6-0, 6-0.
UW may not have such an easy time this weekend. Western Michigan is better than their record, as indicated by their No. 54 ranking. In addition, their two losses have come against formidable competition in the form of the Badgers' Big Ten foes No. 32 Indiana and No. 53 Illinois.
The Broncos were defeated 5-2 by each of these ranked opponents. Bronco senior Reedhina Parekh was named the Mid-American Conference player of the week on Monday, winning in both her doubles and singles matches against Illinois this past week. The Broncos won the MAC regular-season championship last spring with an undefeated record and took home second place in the conference's championship tournament.
The Badgers' Burke entered the season ranked No. 32 in singles and ranked No. 33 in doubles along with sophomore Nicole Beck. Burke is 4-0 in singles this spring and is coming off of an impressive fall campaign. The Cedarburg, Wis., native attained first-team All-Big Ten honors to go along with Big Ten All-Academic accolades.
