The Wisconsin women's tennis team continued its fall tournament play this past weekend, finishing strong at the Wildcat Invite at Northwestern University, after struggling on the tournament's first day.
Wisconsin began the tournament on a rough note, going 4-8 in singles and doubles combined on day one of the tournament. Senior Elizabeth Carpenter, junior Katya Mirnova and freshman Aleksandra Markovic lost their opening singles matches. Sophomores Alaina Trgovich, Emese Kardhordo and Jessica Seyferth also lost in round one. Only Carpenter extended her match to three sets.
However, Badger freshman Angela Chupa led the late tournament charge, winning four straight singles matches in her flight, or pool. Chupa and senior Erin Jobe were the only Badgers to win their first-round matches. On the tournament's final day, Chupa beat South Carolina freshman Ashley Miller in a hotly-contested three-set match, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. Despite the rough start, Wisconsin singles finished above .500 for the tournament, with a final record of 17-15.
Even with the stellar play of Chupa, the doubles teams led the way for Wisconsin at the Wildcat Invite. The Badgers' doubles teams struggled on the first day of the tournament, just as in the singles flights. The teams of Seyferth and Trgovich and Carpenter and Markovic were the only doubles teams to advance to the second round, and both went on to lose to their respective opponents. Still, the two teams came to life in the consolation round.
In the eight-game pro-set format of the doubles tournament, Carpenter and Markovic won their first-round match against Michigan State sophomores Manon Noe and Whitney Wilson, 8-6. Carpenter and Markovic lost their second-round match though, 3-8, to the host Northwestern team of senior Nazlie Ghazal and freshman Elena Chernyakova. However, Carpenter and Markovic stormed into the consolation round, winning both of its matches, including a victory over DePaul juniors Anna Redecsi and Sandra Zmak, 8-6.
The doubles team of Seyferth and Trgovich followed suit, defeating freshman Gia McKnight and sophomore Selma Salkovic of DePaul in the first round 8-6. Seyferth and Trgovich also dropped their second-round match to Notre Dame's duo of junior Kali Krisik and freshman Shannon Mathews 4-8. Seyferth and Trgovich returned in consolation play, winning both of their matches as well, including a thrashing of Michigan State's freshman Dana Guentert and senior Ana Milosavljevic, 8-3.
Men's Tennis
The Wisconsin men's tennis team finished play in the Tom Fallow Invitational in South Bend, Ind. this past weekend. Wisconsin senior Mike Muskievicz breezed through the first rounds of the singles tournament before falling to Notre Dame sophomore Tyler Davis, 4-6, 3-6.
On the final day of competition, Wisconsin junior Luke Rassow-Kantor defeated Western Michigan senior Kevin Hayward 6-3, 6-4. Likewise, sophomore Peter Marrack defeated Western Michigan sophomore Brad Noel, 6-4, 6-4.
On the final day of doubles, Muskievicz and Rassow-Kantor defeated the Notre Dame team of Davis and sophomore Matt Johnson, 9-7. Marrack, who was matched up with Notre Dame junior Takashi Yoshii, lost to the Ball State team of seniors Jorge Rodriguez and Jose Perdomo, 3-8.
Both the men's and women's tennis teams will shift their focus to the ITA Midwest Championships. The men's tournament will commence in Columbus, Ohio on October 16. The women begin their week-long tournament play in East Lansing, Michigan on October 23.
- ouwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
