The eighth-seeded UW men's tennis team started off the Big Ten Tournament on a high note, avenging last season's first round loss by taking down No. 9 seed Purdue (8-15 overall, 3-8 Big Ten) 4-1 at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis Thursday. The win improved the Badgers' record to 11-11 on the season and pushed their conference mark to 4-7.
The Badgers came out right off the bat and quickly swiped the doubles point. The No. 1 doubles duo of sophomores Jeremy Sonkin and Nolan Polley started the Badgers off, defeating Purdue's Colin Foster and Kurt Zaske 8-6. The top pair moved to 11-4 on the season, and claimed their sixth win in conference play. The No. 2 team of junior Lachezar Kasarov and sophomore Felipe Bellido clinched the crucial first point, cruising to an 8-3 victory over the Boilermakers tandem of Jose Fuenmayer and Scott Warner. The win for Kasarov and Bellido was their 10th of the spring.
In singles play, Polley continued his dominance in the Big Ten at the No. 2 spot, quickly taking care of Warner 6-1, 6-1. The 114th-ranked player in the nation claimed his ninth conference triumph of the spring, and his sixth consecutively. At No. 1, Sonkin maintained his solid play, grabbing a 6-0, 6-3 win over Foster. This marked the seventh conference victory of the season for the Wheaton, Ill. native.
The fourth and final point needed to clinch the dual match victory was provided at the No. 6 slot by Gian Hodgson. The freshman notched his 12th victory of the spring with his 6-4, 6-4 trouncing of Purdue's Griffin Nienberg. The two remaining matches were abandoned due to the Badgers' insurmountable 4-1 lead.
The Badgers' victory was their second over the Boilermakers this season. The other came on April 16, when UW destroyed Purdue 6-1 in Madison.
UW Sophomore Brennen Phippen returned to action at No. 3 singles following a hand injury that kept him sidelined since April 9. Phippen's return, however, was not a victorious one, as he was defeated 6-4, 6-0 at the hands of Purdue's Eric Hodgman.
With the win, Wisconsin moves on to the quarterfinals and will entertain No. 1 seed and 10th-ranked Ohio State (22-1, 10-0) today at 9 a.m. The Badgers were handily beaten 6-1 by the Buckeyes just last Sunday in the lone meeting of the season between the two teams. Head coach Greg Van Emburgh was optimistic about his team's chances in Monday's press conference.
As long as the guys are out there and they're giving it their all, you never know, because we've got spots that we can compete with,\ Van Emburgh said. ""It's just a matter of the other guys stepping up when they need to, to try to get that extra incentive for the win.""
Additionally, Sonkin was named to the All-Big Ten team after the match Thursday.\
