The No. 45 UW men's tennis team knocked off two ranked Big Ten opponents en-route to an undefeated weekend at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Badgers (4-1 Big Ten, 12-7 overall) defeated No. 66 Purdue on Saturday 6-1, and followed it up with a 5-2 upset victory over No. 16 Illinois on Sunday.
In the win over the Fighting Illini (3-1, 10-6), UW senior Nolan Polley clinched the match with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Illinois' Ruben Gonzales, the nation's 80th-ranked player, at No. 2 singles. Polley, ranked No. 99 in the country, moved to 13-3 on the year in singles play and is unbeaten in conference play.
Two players in their first season with the Badgers also captured singles wins. At No. 3 singles, freshman Marek Michalicka continued his stellar play by cruising to a 6-4, 6-2 over Billy Heiser of the Fighting Illini. He has won 16 of 17 matches this season. Sophomore Luke Rassow-Kantor, a transfer from Georgia Tech, defeated Waylon Chin in a thrilling 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) match at the No. 5 slot.
The Badgers took the momentum early by winning two of three doubles matches to notch the opening doubles point.
Rassow-Kantor and sophomore Michael Dierberger capped the point for UW at the No. 2 spot with an 8-6 upset victory over the No. 32 duo of Gonzales and Brandon Davis. Michalicka and senior Jeremy Sonkin took down Connor Roth and Marc Spicijaric 8-5 at the No. 3 position to start the scoring for the Badgers.
Dierberger also won in singles, downing Illinois' Davis 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 6 singles slot.
On Saturday, the Badgers captured five of six singles matches in a solid 6-1 victory over the Boilermakers (3-1, 10-6).
After taking the opening doubles point, UW lost just one match in singles play. Sophomore Moritz Baumann, Polley, Michalicka, Sonkin and Dierberger all tallied victories for the Badgers.
The Badgers hit the road this weekend to face No. 44 Indiana on Saturday, followed by a showdown with No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes have just one loss and are unbeaten in Big Ten dual matches.
Women's squad
The UW women's tennis team dropped a pair of conference road matches this past weekend, following a 6-1 defeat at Illinois Saturday with a close 4-3 loss at Purdue on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday, the Badgers (0-5, 7-10) dropped the opening doubles point and half of their singles matches to the Boilermakers. UW seniors Morgan Tuttle and Chelsea Nusslock, as well as freshman Jessica Seyferth, all notched singles victories to pace the Badgers. The Boilermakers (1-3, 3-10) took four of the first five points to clinch the match even with the last two singles matches still in progress.
UW was overwhelmed on Saturday by the No. 70 Fighting Illini in singles play. The Badgers' lone point came via the opening doubles point. The No. 2 duo of Tuttle and freshman Emese Kardhordo took down Leigh Finnigan and Marisa Lambropoulos of Illinois 9-7. Nusslock and sophomore Katya Mirnova won as well, defeating Annie McCarthy and Momei Qu 8-5 at the No. 3 position. Illinois moved to 3-0 in Big Ten play and 7-6 overall.
The Badgers return home this weekend to face No. 25 Indiana on Saturday and No. 31 Ohio State on Sunday.
- uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
