The No. 27 UW men's tennis team started its 2008 campaign on a high note, registering four non-conference victories in two tennis-filled days at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Badgers moved to 4-0 with a 5-2 victory over Northern Illinois Sunday, followed by a sound 7-0 defeat of UW-Whitewater later in the day.
After the Huskies (1-2 overall) swept three doubles matches to take the opening point of the contest, UW woke up in singles play.
The Badgers recorded victories in five of six matches, including wins from freshmen Peter Marrack and Marek Michalika as well as Georgia Tech sophomore transfer Luke Rassow-Kantor. Senior Jeremy Sonkin posted the Badgers' lone singles loss, a 6-2, 7-5 decision to NIU's Brian Livingston at No. 1 singles.
In the afternoon, the Warhawks (0-1) proved to be no match for UW. The Badgers didn't surrender more than four games in any set, taking each doubles match by at least a five-game margin and winning every singles set played.
The Badgers swept UW-Green Bay (0-1) and Butler (0-6) Saturday by a score of 7-0. UW dropped just two sets on the day.
As is custom in early non-conference match-ups, head coach Greg Van Emburgh employed a variety of singles line-ups and doubles pairings, giving nine players on the roster a chance to play at a different spot. Only sophomore Moritz Baumann and freshman Steven Schechtman did not play during the weekend.
The schedule becomes much tougher for the Badgers as they start a string of five consecutive road contests this Saturday with a match at No. 20 North Carolina State. Coming up is four more matches against ranked opponents, including a showdown with No. 12 Notre Dame, a perennial powerhouse, Feb. 9 in South Bend, Ind.
The UW women's tennis team also began the spring semester with consecutive home victories.
The Badgers (2-0) took down Eastern Michigan (2-1) Friday, 5-2, and followed that with a 7-0 sweep of Northern Illinois Saturday. The two matches were the 2008 coaching debut for new head coach Brian Fleishman and new assistant Katie Dougherty, a UW player from 1999-2002.
Saturday, the Badgers did not surrender a set to the Huskies (0-1). UW freshmen Emese Kardhordo and Jessica Seyferth each moved to 2-0 in singles play, recording straight-set victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively. Junior Elizabeth Carpenter notched her first victory of the season at No. 1 singles with an easy 6-0, 6-1 victory over the Huskies' Lilian Asuaje.
The Badgers were solid in doubles all weekend, sweeping each doubles point.
After traveling to Blacksburg, Va., this Saturday to take on Virginia Tech as a conference representative for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Badgers host the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Team Indoors starting Feb. 7.
