The UW men's tennis team looks to snap a four-match losing streak this weekend against its two border rivals. The Badgers will face Iowa (0-4 Big Ten, 5-8 overall) Saturday and No. 40 Minnesota (3-1, 9-9) Sunday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Badgers (1-4, 8-8) were swept last weekend on the road for their third and fourth consecutive defeats, dropping tough decisions at Indiana 4-3, and at Penn State 5-2. Despite capturing the doubles point in both matches, UW was unable to use that momentum in singles play and came out with losses in each contest.
Several Badgers were involved in close matches over the weekend. At the No. 2 singles spot, sophomore Nolan Polley took both of his matches to three sets, but could not get over the hump in the final set. Against Penn State alone, three of the Badgers' six singles matches went to three sets, with the Nittany Lions coming out on top in each. Polley, sophomore No. 3 Brennen Phippen, and sophomore No. 5 Felipe Bellido each bowed out in the third and final set of their matches.
This Saturday, the Badgers will take on an Iowa team that remains winless in the Big Ten, and a team that has lost seven of its last eight matches. Most recently, the Hawkeyes were defeated by Michigan State and Michigan, mustering only two points out of the 14 between the two matches. This will be a good opportunity for UW to get back on track, and to get revenge for last spring's 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Hawkeyes.
The following day, UW will be hunting for an upset as it takes on a solid Minnesota squad, which has won six of their last eight matches, including road wins last weekend over then-No. 29 Michigan (5-2) and Michigan State (6-1). The Gophers boast a singles lineup that includes two players ranked in the top 125, including No. 59 D.J. Geatz and No. 121 Nic Edlefsen.
The Badgers were successful against both the Hawkeyes and the Gophers at its Wisconsin Invitational during the fall season. UW went 6-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles play against Iowa, and were 5-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles versus Minnesota.
Despite the recent struggles, the Badgers look upon this weekend with confidence, and know that if they come out ready to play, they can hit with anyone in the Big Ten. UW head coach Greg Van Emburgh is encouraged by the fact that not one of his players are out there to win their matches just for themselves.
For the guys that we have, they're all about trying to win as a team,\ Van Emburgh said. ""There's no guy looking to just win as an individual. We really have guys that want to get it done as a team, and we've told them in the past, every win that we get, it becomes a team effort.""
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