The Wisconsin women's tennis team will host the Big Ten Tournament this weekend, where they will face off against Iowa in the first round Thursday afternoon.
Entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed, the women drew the Hawkeyes. Wisconsin beat Iowa two weeks ago in a close 4-3 competition to earn its first conference win of the season, a feat head coach Brian Fleishman warns is tough to repeat.
""It's good to get a team that you've beaten, but I was just telling the girls it's tough to beat a team twice in such a short period of time,"" Fleishman said. ""They made some adjustments in their doubles, so we're going to be seeing three new teams from them but the same singles lineup. Is that good or bad? I don't know. We'll have to wait and find out.""
Iowa finished its regular season 2-8 in the Big Ten and 7-14 overall, which made it the No. 10 seed in the tournament.
The Badgers (3-7 Big Ten, 8-14 overall) are 33-8 all time against the Hawkeyes. Led by No. 92 freshman Sonja Molnar, Iowa has had a chance to regroup and reorganize, but the Badger squad is braced for a fight.
""I definitely think they're going to step it up,"" senior Liz Carpenter said. ""It's a conference tournament, so everyone's going to leave everything on the court.""
A win over the Hawkeyes would pit the Badgers against No. 2 seed Michigan, which enters the tournament 9-1 in the conference and 15-5 overall after posting decisive victories over Illinois and Indiana last weekend. The No. 18 Wolverines handed the Badgers their fourth conference loss when they met in March and now join No. 1 seed Northwestern (10-0, 22-1), No. 3 Illinois (8-2, 17-6), No. 4 Ohio State (7-3, 14-9) and No. 5 Indiana (6-4, 14-9) at the top of the bracket with a Thursday bye.
This year's competition is tough across the board, as five of the 11 teams arriving Thursday to compete at Nielsen Tennis Stadium are ranked in the top 50 nationally. The tournament boasts five doubles pairs ranked in the top 65 and 10 singles in the top 125, half of which hail from tournament favorite Northwestern. The Wildcats will enter the competition at No. 1 with their fifth consecutive perfect 10-0 conference record in search of their 11th straight conference tournament title.
""The way they go about their business is pretty amazing,"" Fleishman said. ""They just don't give you any free points. They don't make any mistakes, they make you play a lot of balls and they kind of drive you crazy. They are very well disciplined. They're just an interesting team to watch.""
Falling near the middle of the conference pool, the Badgers will enjoy all the comforts of home this weekend, as well as the strategic advantages of being well-versed in the unique conditions of Nielsen's outdoor courts. Last weekend on Nielsen's windy courts the ladies closed out their season with a sunny win over unranked foe Penn State 5-2 and a near upset against No. 38 Ohio State.
""I think winning solves a lot of problems, so it was good to get a taste of what it felt like to win toward the end of the season,"" Fleishman said. ""The girls really needed that, because we've been working extremely hard and not getting the results. And now to get three wins and almost pull the upset against a top-40 team going into the tournament, I think confidence now is pretty high, and I think the girls realize that everything we've done up to this point was for a reason.""
Wisconsin has collected all three of its conference wins in its last four meets of the regular season. According to Fleishman, however, the best could be still to come.
""Liz and Katya [Mirnova] and Jess [Seyferth] have been busting their butts every match out, and the results kind of show and speak for themselves. I'm hoping that the bottom half of the lineup and the younger players are able to step up this weekend,"" Fleishman said. ""I don't think they've really shown me exactly how well they can play yet.""
The Badgers will take the court against Iowa at 3 p.m. Thursday for their first match. Play runs all weekend long, and the best of the Big Ten battle it out for the title on Sunday at noon.
