The UW women's tennis team suffered their sixth consecutive defeat Thursday after losing 7-0 to No. 3 Notre Dame (1-0 Big East, 15-1 overall) at Nielsen Tennis Center.
Despite losing the doubles point, it was a doubles match that served as the lone bright spot for the Badgers (0-5 Big Ten, 3-11). Down 6-3 in the match, senior Caitlin Burke and junior Nicole Beck stormed back to take down Notre Dame's Katie Potts and Kelcy Tefft 8-7 (7-5).
""I feel like we didn't start off so well, but after we started to come back a little bit we started playing the best that Beck and I have played together in the past three matches, so it was good,"" Burke said.
Both players sat out of singles competition, however, with Burke nursing a right wrist injury and Beck resting her right tricep.
Burke, who is ranked 18th in the nation in singles despite not playing a singles match since early February, faced a familiar foe in Potts. As a junior at Cedarburg High School, Burke defeated Potts, a freshman at Divine Savior Holy Angels in Brookfield, Wis., 6-0, 6-0 in the WIAA Division I State Championship singles match. Burke also won the rematch one year later by a score of 6-2, 6-1.
""It was fun,"" Burke said. ""I don't get to see her very often and I normally don't play against her when we play them in a dual match.""
Potts finished her high school career with a 126-5 record, while Burke finished undefeated at 108-0.
The Fighting Irish were the seventh ranked opponent the Badgers have faced this year. A tough slate of competition coupled with nagging injuries to key players has Henderson and the team working to keep positive and keep confidence high.
""We dissect matches and dissect points in order to find a way to come off of the court and take a victory out of a loss,"" Henderson said. ""Practices have been specific, we've been working on things that are unique to each of the players.
""They just have to find ways to get confidence, so that when they have those opportunities, they are able to believe in themselves,"" she added.
UW has the weekend off before facing No. 47 Purdue next Saturday at home. The match is the first of four consecutive home conference match-ups for the Badgers.
""We saw Purdue in the middle of January at the Virginia Invitational, so that is helpful for us because we know their players,"" Henderson said.
The week off will be critical for Burke and Beck, and Henderson is confident both can return to the singles lineup against the Boilermakers.
