Both the Wisconsin men's and women's tennis teams competed in the Milwaukee Tennis Classic last weekend with varied results.
The men's squad produced substandard results as a whole, winning four of nine doubles matches and just four of 21 singles matches. The women faired considerably better by generating strong team and individual performances.
Sophomore Alaina Trgovich stood out for the Badgers by going undefeated in the event. Trgovich excelled in both singles and doubles competition.
The transfer from Kentucky began the tournament partnered with freshman Angela Chupa in a doubles match against Texas A&M. The duo's win was the only Badger victory over Texas A&M in doubles.
Later the same day, Trgovich faced off against junior Alice Tunaru. Trgovich defeated Tunaru handily in the first set, 6-2, then clinched the match by edging out Tunaru in a tiebreaker in the second set.
On day two of the competition, Wisconsin squared off with Marquette in doubles play. Trgovich paired up with freshman Aleksandra Markovic and won their match, 8-5.
Later in the day, Wisconsin once again faced Texas A&M, this time in singles. Trgovich won her match in straight sets, this time over sophomore Christi Liles.
Trgovich completed her indomitable run last Sunday, day three of the tournament. Trgovich defeated Marquette's sophomore Rachael Hush (6-1, 6-2), then took the court with Markovic again for doubles, and defeated their opponents from Alabama.
Trgovich's accomplishments in the event earned her runner-up honors based on a points system that evaluated individual play. Sophomore Tiffany Welcher of Alabama was donned in the singles champion.
The men's team did not create a standout over the weekend like Trgovich, nor did they perform particularly well as a team, producing average results in the doubles format and poor outcomes in the singles.
Over the weekend, Wisconsin won one of three doubles series and dropped all three singles series.
Wisconsin started off on the wrong foot as the Badgers dropped all seven singles matches in the morning of day one of the competition. Their performance did improve, however, in the afternoon as Wisconsin won two out of the three doubles matches against Marquette. The two winning pairs were juniors Luke Rassow-Kantor and Michael Dierberger, and senior Michael Muskievicz and sophomore Peter Marrack.
The Badgers put an end to their winless skid against Northwestern Saturday in doubles play by notching a victory in one of the three matches. Muskievicz and senior Gian Hodgson pulled out the win, 8-1.
Wisconsin also picked up some singles victories that day against Ball State, but could not take the series, losing three of the seven matches.
Rassow-Kantor, Marrack and freshman Varun Chari were the victors for UW.
The Badgers turned around and played Ball State in singles on Sunday morning, but won just one of the three matches. It was Muskievicz and Marrick who came out victorious once again for their second doubles win of the event and the season.
The final facet of the event came in singles play against Marquette, the only team the Badgers had previously defeated in a series. But this time the Golden Eagles took the sequence in convincing fashion, winning six of seven matches. Freshman Michael Koval had the lone win for Wisconsin.
Both the men and women will compete in their second events of the fall this weekend, but this time, at separate locations.
The men will participate in the Baylor Invitational in Waco, Texas. The event is another three-day one, and it will begin Friday, Sept. 26.
The women will head west to Pacific Palisades, Ca., to partake in the ITA All-American championship. The eight-day event begins Sept. 27 at the Riviera Tennis Club.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
