Facing a trio of teams nationally ranked in the top 15, the No. 75 UW women's tennis team dropped three consecutive matches at Nielsen Tennis Stadium this past weekend in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Team Indoor Championship.
On Thursday, the tournament's opening night, the Badgers (2-4) dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 4 Georgia Tech. With three singles players ranked in the national top 40, the Yellow Jackets (6-1) overwhelmed UW, taking the doubles point and the first three singles matches in straight sets to seal the victory.
Georgia Tech would go on to win the tournament championship, taking down three top-10 teams in its path, including No. 1 Stanford in the semifinals.
With the opening setback, the Badgers moved into the consolation bracket for the remainder of tournament play.
On Friday, UW suffered a 7-0 defeat at the hands of No. 11 Baylor. The Bears (4-1) dropped just one set to the Badgers on their way to a sweep. UW junior Erin Jobe made things tough at No. 6 singles against the Bears' Zuzana Chmelarova, taking the first set 6-3. Jobe was unable to hold on, however, dropping the final two sets 1-6 and 2-6.
The Badgers wrapped up tournament play on Saturday with a 5-1 loss to No. 13 William & Mary. UW's lone victory came at No. 6 singles. Senior Chelsea Nusslock - a Lake Forest, Ill., native - captured a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Barbara Zidek of the Tribe (5-3).
In doubles, Nusslock, paired with senior Morgan Tuttle at the No. 2 spot, took down the Tribe's Klaudyna Kasztelaniec and Zidek 8-5. However, William & Mary took the remaining two doubles matches to lock up the doubles point.
The Badgers will play two matches this week. On Wednesday, UW heads to Milwaukee to take on in-state rival Marquette. The Badgers will then play at Notre Dame Friday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.
Men
The No. 30 UW men's tennis team nearly pulled an upset last Saturday, but fell in a close 4-3 match to No. 9 Notre Dame at Eck Tennis Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.
After dropping the opening doubles point, the Badgers (4-3) took down three of the six singles matches from the Fighting Irish (6-1). Senior Jeremy Sonkin, sophomore Michael Dierberger and freshman Marek Michalicka each captured a singles match to put the Badgers in position to win the contest. However, in the final match, senior Nolan Polley was narrowly defeated at No. 2 by Sheeva Parbhu in a third-set tiebreak, 6-7(1), 6-2, 7-6(4).
Sophomore Moritz Baumann was also defeated in three sets after taking the first set. Baumann, the nation's No. 39 player, lost to No. 11 Brett Helgeson 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 at No. 1 singles.
The schedule does not get any easier for the Badgers as they wrap up their five-match road trip this weekend. UW will head to No. 59 Louisville this Saturday, followed by a match at No. 35 Vanderbilt the following day.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
